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A 

BRIEF SKETCH 



OF THE 



PRESENT STATE AND FUTURE EXPECTATIONS 



THE JEWS. 






By RIDLEY H. HERCSHELL. 



FIRST AMERICAN EDITION. 



PHILADELPHIA: 

PRESBYTERIAN BOARD OF PUBLICATION. 
PAUL T. JONES, PDELISH1NG AGENT. 

1842. 



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Printed by 

WILLIAM S. MARTIEN. 



CONTENTS. 



Page 

Visit to Poland, 10 

Incident in a Stage-coach, - - - - 13 

Forced profession of Christianity, 14 

Oppression of the Jews, - - - - 15 

Comparative morality of Jews and Gentiles, 19 

Jewish Converts, 22 

Errors of Christians in reasoning with Jews, 24 

Judaizing, -26 

Errors of the Papacy, ... 28 

Christ not preached to Jews, - - - 29 

Jews' opinion of Christians, 30 

Papal image worship, 31 

Jews should have been taught by the holiness 

of the Church, 34 

Sin of the Church, - - - - . - 36 

State of morals in Poland and Russia, - 37 

Letter from a Jew, 40 

Adherence to Judaism, 44 

Argument unavailing, 45 

Letter from a Jew, 46 

Love to be manifested, 47 

Philo-Judean Society, 48 

Religious feeling among the Jews, - - 49 

Avoiding needless offence, 56 

Visit to the Synagogue, - - - - 57 

Hospitality of the Jews towards their brethren, 59 

Brotherly love among the Jews, - - 60 

A Polish Rabbi, 67 

Rabbi Jose, ------- 69 



CONTENTS. 



Pagre 
• 70 
73 

. 78 
79 
80 

. 82 



Feasts of the Jews — unleavened bread 

Passover, 

Elijah's Cup, - 

Christ's Passover, 

The Lord's Supper, - 

Feast of Weeks, .... 

First Fruits, ... - 

Fasts of the fourth and fifth month, - - 84 

Feast of Trumpets, 86 

Day of Atonement, 94 

Feast of Tabernacles, ... 99 

Feast of the Dedication, ... - 103 

Fast of the tenth month, 106 

Feast of Purim. ------ 106 

Levites and Cohens, - 107 
Expectations of the Jews concerning the Mes- 
siah, 108 

Ceremony of Marriage, 113 

Extracts from Chobath Levavouth, - - 124 
Extracts from the Talmud, - - - - 139 

Rabbi Nehemiah, 142 

Jewish Commentators, 145 

Errors of Christians, 149 

Superiority of Christianity, - - - -151 

Work of Christ, 154 

Difference between Jews and Gentiles, - - 157 

Unity of God's purpose, 159 

Promise of the Land to Abraham and his seed, 162 
Creation state, ------ 164 

Redemption, 166 

Restitution of all things, - - - - 167 
Promises both spiritual and literal, - - 169 
Second coming of Christ, - - - . - 171 
Address to Jews, 176 



PREFACE 

TO THE FOURTH EDITION. 

I avail myself of the opportunity given 
me by the publication of a new edition of 
this little work, to express the gratitude 
and pleasure I feel at the favourable re- 
ception this humble attempt of a stranger 
and foreigner has met with, not only from 
my Christian friends, but from many 
others, in this my adopted country. I 
also think it better, in this way, to an- 
swer some objections that have been 
made to it; as an attempt to obviate 



6 PREFACE. 

them by interpolations in the book itself 
would tend to break the continuity of the 
subject. 

Some persons have remarked, that I 
seem to regard the blindness of my 
brethren, not as a judicial infliction, but 
as produced by what are termed second 
causes. To this, I will, in the first 
place, give one general answer, which I 
have given elsewhere, that may tend to 
account for many omissions. As I am 
conscious of having stated nothing but 
facts, I do not feel answerable for any 
conclusions that may be drawn from 
them. In this case, however, I have no 
hesitation in stating, in the most explicit 
manner, my conviction, that the partial 
blindness which has happened to Israel 



PREFACE. 7 

has been by the determined counsel and 
foreknowledge of God; nevertheless, I 
do not see that the belief of this in re- 
gard to any event foretold in Scripture, 
should make us overlook the means by 
which, in providential dispensations, or- 
dained events are brought to pass. 

I have been charged with drawing too 
favourable a picture of my own brethren, 
while I have been too severe on profess- 
ing Christians. To this I can only re- 
ply, by stating, that I have not inten- 
tionally done either ; and by reminding 
my readers that my comparisons do not 
refer to this country. I do not compare 
English Jews with British Christians ; 
I compare the Jews of my native coun- 
try with the ungodly heathens around 



b PREFACE. 

them, as the papists and infidels, who 
assume the Christian name, ought more 
properly to be denominated. 

If this imperfect sketch should be the 
means of calling forth one kindly feeling 
towards my poor brethren, or shall in 
any instance check the hasty condemna- 
tion of a whole nation, on account of 
some unhappy individual specimens, I 
shall feel that it has not been written in 
vain. 

January, 1837. 



BRIEF SKETCH, 

&C. 



In compliance with the request so fre- 
quently made me, by those friends of 
Israel to whom I have endeavoured to 
impart more just views of the present 
condition of my brethren the Jews, than 
I find to be commonly entertained among 
Christians, I sit down to make the fol- 
lowing statement; hoping by it, through 
the blessing of God, to awaken, amongst 
the true disciples of Jesus, a feeling of 
deeper interest towards my brethren, and, 
ought I not to add, His brethren, accord- 
ing to the flesh ; who, let it never be for- 
gotten, are still, as a people, beloved of 
God for the Fathers' sakes. 
2 



10 VISIT TO POLAND. 

Before proceeding to disclose the spi- 
ritual state of my brethren, their measure 
of religious knowledge, and the nature 
of their future expectations, I will first 
advert to a subject on which I have been 
repeatedly questioned: namely, the strong 
enmity manifested by the Jews against 
Christians and Christianity. O, my 
friends, this is a painful and delicate sub- 
ject; but I will, in the strength of God, 
speak the truth on it in love. In order 
to show that I do not treat of it under 
the influence of what some might con- 
sider my former Jewish prejudices, I 
will state the occasion of my recent visit 
to the Continent ; from which they will 
perceive, that I saw every thing with the 
feelings of one who was jealous for the 
honour of the religion of Jesus, and 
deeply pained that his holy name should 
be blasphemed through the conduct of 
his professed disciples. In doing this, I 
shall say no more about myself, than 
seems necessary to give my readers a 



VISIT TO POLAND. 11 

correct idea of the circumstances in which 
I stood in regard to my own family, and 
the rest of my kinsmen according to the 
flesh. 

After the Lord, through his goodness and 
tender mercy, had, by his Spirit, enabled 
me to see that Jesus of Nazareth is the 
Messiah, I was for some years cut off 
from all intercourse with the pious Jews 
of the Continent; my own dear parents 
and relations, w T ho are very much devoted 
to the service of God, being determined 
no longer to countenance me ; thinking 
that I had forsaken the Lord God of Is- 
rael, and consequently, viewing me as a 
heathen man. This was a very bitter 
cup for me to drink ; but not to be com- 
pared to the joy of beholding Him who 
is come to be " a light to lighten the Gen- 
tiles;" and will yet, according to his own 
promise, become the " glory of his peo- 
ple Israel," that his salvation may be 
unto the ends of the earth. In the month 
of June 1832, the Lord was pleased ta 



12 VISIT TO POLAND. 

answer my daily groanings, and caused 
the heart of my beloved father to be soft- 
ened towards me. He wrote me a very 
affectionate letter, expressing a great wish 
to see me once more; and offering to 
take a journey of five hundred miles to 
meet me. I felt filled with praise to my 
Lord and my God who had done this for 
me. I replied by return of post, saying 
that I would save him the trouble of 
taking such a long journey, and would 
myself go to Poland to see him. 

I will not enlarge on my own feelings 
in the prospect of again meeting my be- 
loved family, in the knowledge of the 
pain I should inflict, and the prejudices 
I should have to encounter. But I must 
express the grief and humiliation I expe- 
rienced, when I reflected that, except in 
so far as I might be enabled to manifest 
somewhat of the spirit of Christ in my 
own walk and conversation, I had nothing 
but a dead history to present to them ; 
I could not point out to them a living 



INCIDENT IN A STAGE COACH. 13 

church, filled with the power and love 
of her Head ; witnessing that He who 
was dead, is alive, and hath all power 
in heaven and earth. Alas ! what have 
we instead of this? A mixed multitude 
of haptized persons, calling themselves 
Christians, and living in sin ; professing 
to be the followers of Jesus, and not do- 
ing the things he commands. 

I had proceeded but a little way on my 
journey, when I was painfully reminded 
of all this. In the coach in which I 
went from Hamburgh to Berlin, I met a 
Jew and his wife, evidently persons in 
affluent circumstances. At first they 
would not acknowledge they were Jews, 
and, indeed, seemed very much displeased 
at such a supposition ; yet I found them 
quite ignorant of Christianity. After a 
great deal of disagreeable conversation, 
the lady at length disclosed the secret to 
me, which was; That several years ago, 
the emperor of Russia gave out a decree, 
that no Jew should remain at St. Peters- 



14 FORCED PROFESSION OF CHRISTIANITY. 

burgh, unless he were baptized ; all the 
pious and conscientious Jews, therefore, 
were obliged to leave their possessions, 
and go to some other place; while those 
who were less so, paid a sum of money 
to a priest, to give them a certificate of 
baptism ; among which number were my 
travelling companions. In order, if pos- 
sible, to guard against this evasion of the 
law, it is customary to punish with the 
utmost rigour those Jews, who, being 
called Christians, continue to associate 
with their brethren, or to observe any of 
their own customs. They are either im- 
prisoned for life, or sent to Siberia. This 
is the reason why the persons of whom 
I have spoken, were so unwilling to con- 
fess their origin, or hold any communi- 
cation with me. My readers will be 
pleased to learn, that after their avowal 
of the truth, I had much interesting con- 
versation with them, respecting the pro- 
phecies concerning the Messiah, and 
other subjects connected with ^Christian 



^M 



OPPRESSION OF THE JEWS. 15 

doctrine ; and that, at their own request, 
I remained a day at Berlin with them, 
for the purpose of continuing our con- 
versation. Does the mode of propagating 
the religion of Christ which I have men- 
tioned above, need any comment? Need 
I point out the effect which such pro- 
ceedings are calculated to produce on the 
mind of a Jew? O, my friends, take 
into consideration the conduct of those 
calling themselves Christians towards the 
Jews, for many centuries past, and you 
will find sufficient reason why the very 
name of Christian presents to them every 
thing that is hateful. Look to the per- 
secutions which they have sustained in 
times past in Spain, France, Germany, 
and England ! Look to their present 
state of suffering in Poland and Russia, 
where they are -driven from place to 
place, and not permitted to live in the 
same street where the so-called Christians 
reside ! It not unfrequently happens, 
that when one or more wealthy Jews have 



16 OPPRESSION OF THE JEWS. 

built commodious houses in any part of 
a town, not hitherto prohibited, this af- 
fords a reason for proscribing them ; it is 
immediately enacted, that no Jew must 
live in that part of the city, and they are 
forthwith driven from their houses, with- 
out any compensation for their loss being 
given them. The alternative of being 
baptized, indeed, is proposed to them, 
and thus a new cause of hatred to the 
name of Jesus, and a new ground of con- 
tempt for a religion that would accept 
such converts, are given them, in addition 
to the example of rapacity and injustice 
which his professed disciples exhibit to 
them. In England, although the Jews la- 
bour under certain civil disabilities, yet jus- 
tice is as open to them as to the Gentiles. 
In Poland and Russia it is far otherwise; 
they are oppressed on every side, yet 
dare not complain ; they are robbed and 
defrauded, yet obtain no redress. Nor 
are their wrongs confined to those inju- 
ries, that from their very nature cannot 



OPPRESSION OF THE JEWS. 17 

occur frequently in a man's life, and from 
which the poverty of the poor may ex- 
empt him, or the money of the rich buy 
him off; in the daily walk of social life, 
insult and contempt meet them at every 
turning. The children in the streets 
often throw stones at the most respecta- 
ble Jews, and call them opprobrious 
names. If a Christian, I use this term 
not in its true meaning, but in the only 
sense in which a Jew can understand it ; 
one who professes to be a follower of 
Christ; if a Christian, I say, comes into 
a coffee-house where he sees some Jews 
sitting, his pious zeal prompts him im- 
mediately to utter some expression of 
insolent contempt, with which the pro- 
verbs and common sayings of his country 
amply supply him; such as, " I would 
rather kill a Jew than do so and so ;" 
and many similar expressions of malevo- 
lence. On conversing very recently with 
a respectable young Jew, who was at my 
house, I expressed my surprise that he 



18 OPPRESSION OF THE JEWS. 

who had a comfortable home, and a father 
able to provide for him in his own coun- 
try, should think of quitting it, for the 
uncertain vicissitudes of a residence in a 
land of strangers ; when he honestly con- 
fessed, that his spirit could no longer 
brook the continual insults to which the 
Jews are exposed in Poland ; and that 
he would rather live in poverty in Eng- 
land, than submit to them. 

During the time of Easter especially, 
which the Jews are aware is a festival in 
honour of Jesus, the malevolence display- 
ed towards them exceeds all bounds. It 
is then hardly safe for them to walk the 
streets; and they are obliged to close 
their shops, and shut up the windows of 
their dwelling-houses, to prevent them 
from being broken. Such are the mani- 
festations which the Christians give the 
Jews of the spirit of Him who said: 
" Father, forgive them, for they know not 
what they do 1" There are on record 
many atrocities which, in yet more bar- 



COMPARATIVE MORALITY, ETC. 19 

barous times, used to be practised at that 
season towards the Jews: and though 
happily these are now but nursery tales, 
they serve in that capacity to nourish in 
the mind of the infant Jew, a deep and 
bitter enmity towards those who he 
soon learns to feel are still his cruel op- 
pressors; and who give him every rea- 
son to believe that they want the power 
only, not the inclination, to commit all 
the enormities that have been narrated to 
him. 

I have no wish to exhaust this painful 
subject, so I say nothing of the many op- 
pressive taxes and severe penalties to 
which, in most parts of the Continent of 
Europe, but especially in those I have 
already alluded to, the Jews are liable. I 
shall now proceed to notice a charge 
brought against them, not for the sake of 
making invidious comparisons, but at 
once to correct an error respecting them, 
and to point out another stumbling-block 
in the way of their reception of Christi- 



20 COMPARATIVE MORALITY OF 

anity. I have frequently heard it assert- 
ed, in the loose, yet confident manner, in 
which so many assertions are made in the 
present day, that the Jews are more de- 
praved in their moral conduct than the 
Christians. If we consider what Chris- 
tianity requires, together with the aids it 
promises, we should indeed expect to find 
among C hristians, a purity of principle and 
of action not to be looked for elsewhere; 
but alas! what ought to be, and what 
is, are two very different things as far as 
professing Christendom is concerned. I 
may confidently appeal to all who are ac- 
quainted with the state of society amongst 
Christians and Jews on the Continent, 
whether the superiority in point of mo- 
rals, be not greatly on the side of the lat- 
ter? I deny not, that there are to be 
found among Jews, as well as Gentiles, 
too many licentious and dissipated cha- 
racters, yielding themselves up to all the 
corrupt affections of the carnal mind ; and 
among that too numerous class of friend- 



JEWS AND GENTILES. 21 

less outcasts, shut out from the comforts, 
and set loose from the restraints, of fam- 
ily and social ties, there are doubtless 
many revolting instances of depravity to 
be met with : but to judge of the manners 
of the nation at large from these, is as 
fair as if I were to set forth the habits of 
the lowest and most worthless of the 
population of London, as a sample of the 
manners of the English in general. In 
the better classes of society on the Con- 
tinent, there is, as I have already said, 
more strictness of morals among the Jews, 
than among the Christians. I firmly be- 
lieve one cause of this to be, that they 
have more of the fear of God among 
them than the Christians have : but two 
other causes contribute materially towards 
it: one is the early marriages of the 
Jews ; the other, the strictness with 
which female propriety is enforced; I 
have no hesitation in saying, that the 
purity of the Jewish females is as jeal- 
ously watched over as is that of the En- 



22 JEWISH CONVERTS. 

glish women ; how much laxity there is 
in this respect among the Gentiles, in 
most of the large towns on the Continent, 
is well known. The immorality of the 
Christians is quite proverbial among the 
Jews. You may imagine what I felt, 
when inquiring one day of my brother 
concerning an old acquaintance of mine, 
he replied, without having any intention 
to offend me, or even reflecting how his 
answer was likely to affect me, "He 
lives exactly like a Christian;" meaning, 
that he led a profligate life. Another day 
he pointed out to me a young Jewess, 
who having devoted herself to a life of 
depravity, found it suited her better to 
quit her own people entirely, and there- 
fore got herself baptized into the Roman 
Catholic Church. This leads me to no- 
tice the cause of the bitter animosity, with 
which the Jews regard those of their 
brethren who have made a profession of 
Christianity. The great majority of the 
converts with whom they are acquainted, 



JEWISH CONVERTS. 23 

have become so from some motive of self- 
interest, and generally consist of those 
who care neither for their own religion 
nor any other. These additions to the 
professed Church of Christ, generally be- 
come the most bitter persecutors of their 
Jewish brethren; often lodging criminal 
informations against them, and instiga- 
ting those in authority to oppress them. 
And even those few whose conversion 
to the true spirit of Christianity may be 
real, have too much withdrawn them- 
selves from their brethren according to 
the flesh, have completely amalgamated 
with the Gentiles, and have appeared 
anxious to escape altogether from the 
reproach of having ever belonged to the 
seed of Abraham. Those, again, who 
have professedly devoted themselves to 
be missionaries to the Jews, have, gene- 
rally speaking, not only injudiciously, 
but I may add, unscripturally, set out by 
opposing all that is already believed by 
the Jews, whether true or false. Instead 



24 ERRORS OF CHRISTIANS 

of opening up to them the meaning of 
that part of divine revelation which the 
Jews receive, — instead of persuading 
them, like our brother Paul, " concerning 
Jesus, both out of the law of Moses, and 
out of the Prophets," — they have too 
much held up the New Testament as a 
sort of rival to the Old ; and have thus, 
without intending it, given countenance 
to an opinion that is very general among 
the Jews; namely, that Christians, if they 
do not altogether reject the law and the 
prophets, at least regard what is denomi- 
nated the Old Testament as being very 
inferior to the New Testament; and from 
what I have heard, even in this country 
of comparatively great light and know- 
ledge, I fear this impression is not alto- 
gether without foundation* Is there not 
a tendency, even among real Christians, 
to regard the Old Testament Scriptures 
simply as a historical record of past 
events? Do they not, with the exception 
of a few who have given their attention 



IN REASONING WITH JEWS. 25 

particularly to the subject, regard the pro- 
phecies as being for the most part already 
fulfilled ; and have they not, by spiritual- 
izing away what they admit to be yet 
future, from their true meaning, cast ad- 
ditional stumbling-blocks in the way of 
inquiring Jews, by throwing a degree of 
doubt and absurdity over all their inter- 
pretations of Scripture? To tell a Jew 
that Zion and Jerusalem mean the Gentile 
Church, and that " the land where their 
fathers have dwelt,'* means Heaven, is at 
once to tell them what is false, and what 
is glaringly absurd. And here I must 
notice, with more severe reprehension, 
the way in which Christians treat what 
they call the Mosaic law. Do they not 
too often speak of it, as if Moses, and not 
God, had been its inventor; as if its rites 
and ceremonies w T ere the traditions of a 
dark and ignorant age; and as if, since 
Christ came, the whole had been dis- 
covered to be a mistaken and an evil 
thing ? I do not say, that they maintain 
3 



26 JUDAIZING. 

these views in so many words, nor even 
that they intend to inculcate them so 
broadly as I have stated them; but cer- 
tainly their mode of treating the subject 
leads the Jew to believe this, and is ne- 
cessarily most offensive to his feelings, 
by seeming to throw contempt on what 
he regards, and justly regards, as holy 
and sacred — even the law of his nation, 
ordained by God himself. The practice 
of the apostolic church, the standard to 
which the Church of Christ in all ages 
has professed to appeal, was very dif- 
ferent. The many thousand Jews, who 
believed in Jerusalem, were all zealous 
of the law ; and Paul, when accused of 
teaching the Jews that were among the 
Gentiles to forsake Moses, and not to cir- 
cumcise their children, immediately re- 
pelled the imputation, by showing that he 
himself " walked orderly, and kept the 
law."* This would be counted carnal 

* As to the opinion I have often heard ex- 
pressed, that St. Paul did this as a matter of 



JUDAIZING. 27 

and Judaizing, by Gentile believers in 
the present day. When I hear Chris- 
tians make use of the word, Judaizing, 
how painfully it reminds me of the state 
into which they have brought the Church 
through a mistaken mimicry of the Jew- 
ish ritual ! The Christian Church at an 
early period began to lose sight of the 
peculiar promises made to the Jews as a 
nation ; and by misinterpreting the mean- 
ing of such statements, as that the bless- 
ing of Abraham should come on the Gen- 
tiles through faith, the latter not only ap- 
propriated to themselves, in a figurative 
sense, all the promises made literally to 

expediency, out of compliance with Jewish pre- 
judices, it seems too absurd to require refutation. 
If he found many thousand Jews in an error, it 
was a sinful deception, not of Paul alone, but of 
the other Apostles, to do that which was calcu- 
lated to make them continue in error. If I could 
think thus of the Apostles of Christ, how could 
I trust them in any thing else ? No; I believe 
they acted honestly and uprightly, as unto the 
Lord, and not unto men. 



28 ERRORS OF THE PAPACY. 

the former, but came at length to set aside 
the literal fulfilment altogether. This I 
believe to be the origin of all the errors 
of the Papacy ; they forgot the true end 
of what they denominate the Gentile dis- 
pensation ; instead of recollecting what 
God declared by his servant Moses, that 
because the Jews moved him to jealousy 
by that which was not God, he would 
move them to jealousy by those who 
were nota people, — and forgetting James's 
declaration, that God would visit the Gen- 
tiles, to take out of them a people for his 
name, and that after this he would return 
and build again the tabernacle of David, — 
they magnified this visitation of the Gen- 
tiles into the ultimate purpose of God, 
and began to say, The temple of the 
Lord, the temple of the Lord, are we. 
They then commenced an imitation of the 
temple worship, and Jewish rites ; intro- 
duced different orders of priests, changing 
their garments as they ministered, — erect- 
ed an altar, made the mass a substitute 



CHRIST NOT PREACHED TO JEWS. 29 

for the daily sacrifice, and infant baptism 
for circumcision. The Protestant Church 
has rejected some of these errors ; but it 
has retained too much of the Judaizing 
spirit. 

Will my Christian brethren, after what 
I have stated, continue to express sur- 
prise at the prejudices of Jews against 
Christianity? Or can they justly accuse 
men, circumstanced as I have described 
my brethren in Poland and Russia to be, 
of rejecting Christ? I confidently assert, 
that Christ has never been preached to 
them, and that Christianity has never 
been exhibited to them. This declara- 
tion may, at first sight, appear rash and 
uncharitable ; but when examined will be 
found strictly true. Consider what is 
presented before them as Christianity. 
They see those who are called Christians, 
divided into two sects ; the one they con- 
sider, not unjustly, as infidels, without 
religion ; the other as worshippers of im- 
ages. Those who have only seen Papacy, 



30 JEWS' OPINION OF CHRISTIANS. 

in the modified form in which it is forced 
to appear in England, cannot have ade- 
quate conceptions of the impression its 
superstitious rites make on the minds of 
Jews, in countries where those rites are 
publicly exhibited. Let my readers re- 
member the constant denunciations in the 
Old Testament Scriptures against the 
makers and worshippers of images ; nay, 
let them only call to mind the second 
commandment; u Thou shalt not make 
unto thee any graven image ; thou shalt 
not bow down thyself to them, nor serve 
them: for I, the Lord thy God, am a 
jealous God :" and they must admit, that 
a Jew is entitled to look with the utmost 
abhorrence on what appears to him the 
image-worship that is continually going 
on around him. His eye is everywhere 
offended with the sight of images ; in the 
streets, outside the churches, in the high- 
ways ; and he is from time to time scan- 
dalized by public processions in which 
images are carried through the streets, 



PAPAL IMAGE WORSHIP. 31 

not only with pomp and parade, but with 
every mark of devout adoration. I shall 
not stop to inquire, whether the poor 
ignorant Papist really worships the wood- 
en idol, but certainly to the Jew he ap- 
pears to do so. Persons have frequently 
said to me, '■ Is it not wonderful that the 
Jews should still remain blind to the 
truth of the Gospel, with the light of 
Christianity shining around them ?" O, 
my friends ! what is the light beheld by 
the Polish or Russian Jew? He sees at 
the meeting of two roads a crucifix, with 
a rude and disgusting image as large as 
life ; he sees the passers by devoutly 
kneel before it, pray to it, kiss it, pay to 
it all those outward marks of adoration, 
which the Word of God tells him are due 
only to the invisible Jehovah ! Is this the 
light of Christianity? Or, is it so won- 
derful that he should refuse to fall down 
and worship this wooden God of the 
Christians ? 

I will not say that such an extensive 



32 PAPAL IMAGE WORSHIP. 

portion of professing Christendom is alto- 
gether without a few of God's hidden 
ones; but these are effectually hidden 
from the Jews ; and even if they were 
not, bear such a small proportion to the 
general mass of ungodly heathens, who 
usurp the name of Christian, that if any 
difference were perceived, it would be 
laid, not to the account of Christianity, 
but of natural disposition. Let Christians 
remember how they condemn the whole 
Jewish nation, on account of certain in- 
dividual cases that come under their no- 
tice, and they surely will not blame the 
Jews forjudging of Christianity by what 
they see universally practised around 
them, by those calling themselves Chris- 
tians. Shall I be told that they ought to 
read the New Testament, and judge of 
Christianity from it ? O ! my friends, can 
you wonder that the Jews think it sin 
even to look into a book, the professed 
believers of which manifest nothing but 
what thev know tob*3 hateful in the sight 



JEWS' OPINION OF CHRISTIANS. 33 

of God 1 I well remember what an over- 
whelming effect it had on my mind, when 
I was first led, in the providence of God, 
to read the fifth, sixth, and seventh chap- 
ters of St. Matthew's Gospel. I then 
looked with astonishment on those called 
Christians, and was led to inquire if 
these were really the doctrines they pro- 
fessed to believe ! 

But, my friends, was it ever the pur- 
pose of God that either Jews or Heath- 
ens should learn to know the Saviour of 
the world from the pages of a book, while 
those who should have been his living 
witnesses were acting in direct opposition 
to the truths he revealed? Let it not be 
imagined, for a moment, that I under- 
value the blessed record of what Jesus 
hath done, as a means of converting sin- 
ners ; I shall surely be acquitted of this 
when I state, that its perusal was the 
chief instrument used by God, in opening 
my eyes to behold in Jesus of Nazareth, 
the Messiah and the Saviour of the world. 






34 JEWS SHOULD HAVE BEEN TAUGHT 

But I wish to state my conviction, that 
the expectations formed by many good 
men of the effects to be produced simply 
by the distribution of New Testaments 
among the Jews, and by sending out a 
few men to argue with them on certain 
scriptural questions, are vain and extrava- 
gant ; and expose many well-meaning 
persons, who entertain them, to a con- 
stant succession of disappointments. O, 
my dear Christian friends, especially 
dear, because I believe you sincerely seek 
the good of Israel, consider well what 
was the end of Christ's mission to the 
world ! It was to make known to rebelli- 
ous man the love of the Father. And he 
himself hath said unto us : " As my 
Father hath sent me into the world, so 
have I sent you into the world ;" that is, 
in order that we may manifest to all 
around us the very love that is in the 
heart of Jesus ; that we may show forth 
in our conduct, the very holiness of the 
life of Jesus. This is the way in which 



BY THE HOLINESS OF THE CHURCH. 35 

the Church should have preached the 
Gospel, — proclaimed the good news, — 
to every creature. What avails it to speak 
of the love of Christ, while his professed 
followers manifest the very hatred and 
malice of Satan? What avails it to tell of 
a Saviour who came to deliver men from 
the dominion of sin, when those who are 
called by his name live in the practice of 
all iniquity ? 0, it is fearful to think of 
the accumulated load of guilt, that lies on 
the head of that which calls itself the 
Christian Church! Let not those few of 
her members who are truly spiritual, lull 
themselves asleep by saying, " Peace 
and safety," while sudden destruction is 
about to come upon her. Let them not 
point to her Bible and Missionary Socie- 
ties, as if these could now redeem a 
character ruined by centuries of ungodli- 
ness ; as if they could stem the torrent of 
iniquity which her own polluted streams 
have helped to swell! Say not that the 
real Church of Christ is not chargeable 






36 SIN OF THE CHURCH. 

with the sins of the visible Church : My 
friends, it is, it must be, the visible, to 
which Jews and Heathens look ; do you 
expect them to see, that which your your- 
selves declare to be spiritual and invisi- 
ble? No ; in such proportion as you have 
connived at the world's calling itself the 
Church, you are guilty of the consequen- 
ces that have flowed from this fatal error. 
I know that those whose hearts are right 
with God, will be saved, when the wood, 
and hay, and stubble, which they have 
built on the true foundation, shall be burnt 
up; but I believe that they will then 
know what it is to be saved u as by 
fire." 

I find that persons in England have 
such inadequate notions of the fearful 
state of morals, in the remoter parts of 
Poland and Russia, that I must enlarge 
more on this subject than its painful and 
revolting nature would incline me to do ; 
but it is necessary they should be ac- 
quainted with the real state of the case, 



STATE OF MORALS. 37 

in order that they may more readily ap- 
prehend the extent, as well as the cause, 
of that absolute abhorrence of what is 
called Christianity, which the Jews in 
those countries entertain. Let it be re- 
membered, that many of those districts, 
where the Jews dwell in the greatest 
numbers, are not only remote from Bri- 
tish intercourse and influence, but have 
probably scarcely ever been visited by 
the feet of British travellers ; and the state 
even of those places that are more fre- 
quently resorted to by strangers, cannot 
be so accurately known by one merely 
passing through, as by those residing in 
them. The Christian, the scientific, or 
the literary traveller is generally too much 
occupied with the peculiar object of his 
journey, to mark the different shades of 
moral depravity that exist in the provin- 
ces through which he may pass ; and 
though it may be said that these will 
naturally attract the notice of the first of 
those classes ; yet, as he will not go 



38 STATE OF MORALS 

about to seek scenes of vice, so neither 
will they be forced on his notice in the 
way in which business, neighbourhood, 
or other unavoidable causes, thrust them 
before the sight of many of the inhabi- 
tants of the same town, who would not 
willingly witness such conduct. 

The Jews are aware that Christians 
have, as well as they, a day which is 
called their Sabbath, and various other 
festivals or holidays. How do they be- 
hold these days, professedly devoted to 
the service of Christ, spent by his pre- 
tended worshippers ? They see the coun- 
try part of the population coming in to 
join their brethren of the towns in the 
services of the Church ; and after these 
are over, they see them resort to the pub- 
lic houses, not merely to spend the rest 
of the day in rioting and drunkenness, 
but even in the commission of those 
crimes, which the Apostle says, " ought 
not to be so much as named among 
Christians." And this is not done under 



IN POLAND AND RUSSIA. 39 

the veil of privacy or concealment, but 
openly, and shamelessly, in the sight of 
all who may chance to pass near those 
haunts of iniquity. These are not rare 
instances of depravity ; they are weekly, 
if not daily, occurrences. They are 
those outward specimens of the conduct 
of the Christian portion of the commu- 
nity, which by continually meeting the 
eye, make the strongest impression, and 
give the Jews reason to believe, that the 
conduct of those whose behaviour is not 
laid open to their view, resembles in kind, 
at least, if not in degree, that which they 
constantly witness. Their intercourse 
in business, with what may be termed 
the more respectable class of society, is 
not calculated to give them an idea that 
honesty and uprightness are esteemed 
necessary virtues. When disputes occur 
between them, the Jew is not allowed to 
make oath against the Christian ; this 
privilege is restricted to his opponent; 



40 LETTER FROM A JEW. 

and perjury is, in such cases, too common 
to excite any surprise. 

These facts require no comment, to 
show the effects they necessarily produce 
on the mind of any Jew, who is con- 
versant with the Word of God, as con- 
tained in the Old Testament, and utterly 
ignorant of those divine precepts incul- 
cated by Jesus Christ. But it may give 
my readers a more vivid picture of the 
impression they make, if I present them 
with a few extracts from the letters of 
one of my dear brothers. In referring to 
my profession of Christianity, he writes 
as follows: — ' 

" I certainly desire to find out what 
your belief exactly is ; for never has 
even a thought about the Christian reli- 
gion found a resting place within my 
mind. I always considered it a great sin 
against the Lord, even to think for a mo- 
ment, or make an inquiry, about a reli- 
gion that produces such fruits. Let me 



LETTER FROM A JEW. 41 

only remind you, dear brother, of the 
conduct of Christians, in our country; can 
any thing be more degrading, more openly 
wicked? Do they not go on, from day 
to day, lying, cheating, and committing 
adultery ? I am sure the wickedness in 
the days of Noah could not be worse. 
How gracious and long-suffering is our 
God, that He does not manifest his dis- 
pleasure by some signal judgment! * * 
Is this the religion you desire me to em- 
brace — this the assembly you wish me 
to join, and for their sake to separate 
myself from my nation? 

" Tell me, dear brother, wherein does 
the Christian religion consist? is it only 
in persecuting the Jews? If so, I must 
give them credit for rigidly keeping this 
precept. Not only do they hate us, but 
they seek for opportunities of expressing 
their hatred and contempt. From the 
very cradle, their children are instructed 
in this, by the living example of the pa- 
rents. A short time since, as I stood be- 
4 



42 LETTER FROM A JEW. 

fore the house of a gentleman in , 

waiting for a friend, the child of the gen- 
tleman, which could hardly utter a few 
sentences, spit several times in my face, 
and said, with its stammering lips, 4 you 
accursed Jew !' I was at first disposed 
to complain to its parents, though I knew 
it would avail but little ; but as I turned 
to go into the house, the words of King 
David came into my mind, when Shimei 
cursed him ; 1 therefore took it as a chas- 
tisement of the Lord, because of our 
iniquity; my soul was overwhelmed with- 
in me, and I wept before my God, and 
asked forgiveness. 

" Need I remind you of their cruelty, 
and revenge against us, when their idola- 
trous processions are passing through the 
streets, because we will not disobey our 
God, and bow down to their images? 
You are aware that nothing but flight 
can secure us from severe personal in- 
jury, or even loss of life. When I was 
travelling lately with our father, there 



LETTER FROM A JEW. 43 

happened to be a procession in a village 
through which we were passing. Know- 
ing that we would not be induced to pay 
homnge to their idols, they assailed us 
with stones, and had not the swiftness of 
our horses enabled us quickly to get be- 
yond their reach, we might have been 
murdered in their fury. 

44 How can T, for a moment, compare 
the religion of the Christians, and of the 
Jews! Has any nation under heaven 
suffered so much as we have, for these 
many centuries, because we will not wor- 
ship idols ? And is it not wonderful, that 
while the great sin of our forefathers was= 
worshipping the gods of the nations, we 
have been, by the watchful care of the 
God of Israel, preserved from this during 
our long and dark captivity ; and for 
eighteen hundred years have borne wit- 
ness that Jehovah alone is to be worship- 
ped? I will therefore serve him, and 
will wait for the fulfilment of all His 
gracious promises." * * * 



44 ADHERENCE TO JUDAISM. 

Christians express much surprise at 
what they term the obstinate resistance 
made by the Jews, to the reception of 
Christianity. They forget that this very 
obstinacy- is honestly intended by them 
as adherence to a religion given them by 
God himself; and that any attempt to 
overturn that which they know to be true, 
otherwise than by the exhibition of that 
which their consciences must recognize 
to be holy and divine, even the spirit and 
life of Jesus Christ, as shown forth in 
his members, not only must, but ought 
to be, as a matter of consistency, resisted 
by them as a wicked attempt to overthrow 
that which God has established. I know 
how invidious these remarks will appear 
to many, and to how much misrepresen- 
tation they may expose me ; but 1 know 
they are the truth, and I state them as an 
answer to the numerous questions that 
are put to me, respecting the difficulties 
that attend the conversion of my brethren. 
I know, for I have myself been partaker 



ARGUMENT UNAVAILING. 45 

of, their habits, their modes of thinking, 
and the things most calculated to make a 
lasting impression on their minds. I 
know the futility of mere argument with 
those who, from early youth, are in the 
habit of making arguments on Scripture 
doctrines their favourite recreation ; and 
the inefficacy of dogmatism, even with 
truth on its side, when used towards 
those who feel equally certain that they 
are right. I know that the mighty power 
of the Spirit of God can melt the stub- 
born heart of man, either by such instru- 
ments, or without them ; but I am at pre- 
sent speaking of the fitness of the instru- 
ments themselves. 

The following extracts of a letter from 
my brother, received some time after the 
foregoing, may not be uninteresting to 
my Christian friends: — 

" Your answer to my last letter gave 
me much pleasure; especially your de- 
claration, that those in our country who 






46 LETTER FROM A JEW. 

call themselves Christians, are not so; 
but are really heathens. After you told 
me what a Christian ought to be, and de- 
scribed to me what some of those you 
have the happiness of knowing in En- 
gland, whom you denominate real Chris- 
tians, truly are, I began to feel a de- 
sire to read the New Testament; and 
after a little hesitation, ventured to com- 
mence it. I cannot find expressions 
strong enough to convey to you how 
much I was astonished and overpowered 
at finding in it such holy and true doc- 
trines ; and such holy precepts inculcated 
on Christians, to make them wise unto 
salvation. But, dear brother, if there be 
only one New Testament, and if that be 
the one you gave rne, how comes it, that 
the poor deluded creatures in our country 
think themselves the followers of Christ? 
And why do the Christians in England 
confine their zeal to the Jews ? Why do 
they not send out missionaries to convert 
these poor heathens, who flatter them- 



LOVE TO BE MANIFESTED. 47 

selves they are Christians, and to show 
them that they cannot be followers of 
Christ, when they live in the habitual 
commission of all that He forbids, and 
in the neglect of all that He commands? 
This might be serviceable to them, and 
would also serve to show the Jews, that 
the vice and impiety they see daily ex- 
hibited is not Christianity." 

* # * # 

I shall make no remark on the latter 
part of my brother's letter, further than 
stating my conviction, that no Christian 
will obtain even a hearing from a devout 
Jew, until he has disavowed all connec- 
tion with the impiety and image worship 
of the lands in which they dwell. He 
may get many, who are less strict, to 
argue with him, because, as I have al- 
ready said, argument is a favourite amuse- 
ment with the Jews ; but he will not get 
any one to give the subject of Christiani- 
ty a serious thought, until he has con- 
vinced him that it is something altogether 



& 



48 PHILO-JUDEA.N SOCIETY. 

opposite to that, which, from his in- 
fancy, has been daily exhibited to him as 
such. 

Let it not be supposed that I seek to 
discourage the efforts of Christians for 
the conversion of my brethren ; I only 
desire that those efforts should be rightly 
directed. I believe, in their present state 
of feeling towards Christians, that in- 
direct efforts may avail more than an 
open attack on their prejudices and opin- 
ions. It is better to manifest the love 
and compassion of Jesus to a Jew, than 
to preach to him with all the weight of 
argument and eloquence; believe it, on 
the word of one who knows his brethren 
well, that one simple act of disinterested 
kindness, will go further towards making 
a Jew inquire, ** What manner of doc- 
trine is this, that produces such good 
fruits ?" than a sermon of an hour long. I 
say not, that you should omit speaking a 
word in season; but the language of 
kindness is one universally understood, 



RELIGIOUS FEELING. 49 

which has no prejudice to encounter, and 
no opposition to overcome. You can 
scarcely imagine the joy it gave to a Rab- 
bi, on the Continent, with whom I was 
conversing on the present state of the 
Jews, both spiritual and temporal, when 
I told him that in England 1 had met 
with Christians who do of a truth ma- 
nifest love to God and to Israel ; that 
some of them visit the poor Jews, giving 
them food and clothing, attending to the 
wants of their wives when in childbed, 
and performing many other acts of kind- 
ness towards them. He was overwhelm- 
ed with joy, and said, u My heart is quite 
warmed with the comfort of hearing that 
God has put into the hearts of some of 
the nations to favour the dust of Zion." 
He went on to say, that he felt assured 
from this, that the time draws near, when 
God will have mercy upon his people, 
and gather them from the ends of the 
earth. 

I shall now proceed to give some ac- 



50 RELIGIOUS FEELING 

count of the state of religious feeling 1 
among my brethren in Poland ; and of 
the opinions commonly entertained among 
them relative to their future prospects. 
But as, in these days, it is particularly 
necessary to guard against being misun- 
derstood, I must distinctly state, that I 
am fully sensible of the blindness and 
ignorance that exist among my brethren, 
and of the deadness of a large proportion 
of them to spiritual things. Nay, not 
only am I, as a believer in Christ, sen- 
sible of this, but those pious and devout 
Jews, of whom I now mean particularly 
to speak, are themselves deeply affected 
by the low state of the nation at large, 
and often make it the subject of deep 
humiliation. The erroneous opinion 
which I wish to correct among my Chris- 
tian friends, and which I have found very 
generally to prevail, is, that though they 
admit there may be various degrees of 
outward moral characters among Jews, 
they consider that so far as regards spi- 



AMONG THE JEWS. 51 

ritual matters, there is nothing to be dis- 
cerned but a dreary void. To remove 
this impression, I shall mention, in addi- 
tion to facts with which I have been 
familiar from childhood, what passed 
under my own observation during my re- 
cent visit to Poland, when I was enabled 
to view the state of my dear brethren, 
with that clearer spiritual discernment 
which a knowledge of Christ bestows. 

As the manner of Paul was to go into 
the synagogues, I followed his example 
every Sabbath-day, both in the towns 
through which I passed on my journey, 
and after my arrival at home. In some 
of the synagogues, the real earnestness 
with which they prayed that the Right- 
eous Branch should speedily spring forth, 
and work the deliverance which God 
hath promised by the mouth of the pro- 
phets, struck me very forcibly ; as well 
as the humility and prostration of soul 
with which they confessed their sins, in 
such sentences as the following: — "We 



52 RELIGIOUS FEELING 

are more sinful than any other people ; 
we ought to be ashamed more than any 
nation; the joy of the Lord is gone away 
from us, our hearts are wounded ; why ? 
because we have sinned against the Lord. 
The temple is destroyed ; there is no 
Shechinah abiding among us ; we are 
despised and trodden down by all people. 
The words of the prophets are fulfilled, 
that Israel is burned on every side, yet 
he layeth it not to heart. But now. Lord, 
look down from heaven, thy holy habi- 
tation, and cause the Messiah, Son of 
David, speedily to appear. And accord- 
ing to thine own promise, sprinkle clean 
water upon us, and cleanse us from all 
our filthiness, and from all our idols."* 
My heart was filled with joy on behold- 
ing the deep feeling with which these 
and similar petitions were uttered. I 

* This is not one continued prayer, but the 
substance of several petitions scattered through- 
out the Jewish Liturgy ; the most striking of 
which are used in the daily prayers. 



AMONG THE JEWS. 53 

gave praise and thanks to God, for I saw 
that there is an invisible Missionary at 
work, even the Spirit of the Lord, to 
cause Israel to remember and cry unto 
the Lord, in the land of their dispersion. 
Is it not to be regarded as a fulfilment of 
this, that several thousand Jews of Po- 
land and Russia have recently bound 
themselves together by an oath, that as 
soon as the way is open for them to go 
up to Jerusalem, they will immediately 
go thither, and there spend their time in 
fasting and praying unto the Lord, until 
he shall send the Messiah? Let the 
friends of Israel be stirred up to pray that 
this awakened feeling may spread and 
increase, that this shaking of the dry 
bones may become universal; as we 
know it is the first step towards their 
receiving the breath of life. Although 
it was comparatively a short time since 
I had intercourse with my brethren ac- 
cording to the flesh, I found a mighty 
change in their minds and feelings in re- 



54 RELIGIOUS FEELING 

gard to the nearness of the time of their 
deliverance. Some assigned one reason, 
and some another, for the opinion they 
entertained ; but all agreed in thinking 
that the time is at hand. I cannot help 
feeling regret that, in speaking of the 
conversations I had with many pious 
Rabbis and others, I must not only speak 
very generally, but must even suppress 
many of those things that would be most 
interesting to my Christian readers, from 
the knowledge that they were spoken in 
full confidence that such communications 
would be held sacred, and not repeated 
either to our own brethren, nor among 
strangers. And I am convinced, that thus 
to regard the inquiries of Jews respecting 
Christianity, who do not make an open 
profession of inquiring, is not only a mat- 
ter of justice and good faith, but also of 
expediency : as the fear of having his 
remarks and questions noised abroad, is 
quite sufficient to deter a Jew from en- 
tering on the subject of religion with a 
Christian. 



AMONG THE JEWS. 55 

In the different towns where I attended 
the synagogues, I generally received the 
compliment, usually paid to strangers of 
respectahle appearance, that of being in- 
vited to dine with one of the elders of the 
synagogue, after the worship was over ; 
at whose house some others of the con- 
gregation were commonly invited to meet 
with me. I generally commenced our 
conversation by lamenting the low state 
of religion among our brethren, in which 
I was almost always most cordially join- 
ed by the others. The expression of one 
of them was very remarkable: " Ah !" said 
he, " we need a Jewish Luther to come 
amongst us, and stir us up." Our con- 
versation always turned on what the work 
of Messiah is — on the nature of the bless- 
ings to Israel, and to the world at large, 
which his coming was to effect. This I 
often showed at considerable length, from 
the Psalms and prophets ; and was listen- 
ed to with the deepest interest. And 
when, in conclusion, I declared my be- 






56 AVOIDING NEEDLESS OFFENCE. 

lief, that Jesus of Nazareth is the Mes- 
siah, who has already fulfilled part of the 
predictions concerning Him, and is com- 
ing again to fulfil the remainder, though 
the declaration usually excited much 
astonishment, it was received with less 
opposition than I expected. 

The rule which I desired to take for 
my conduct among my own people, was 
the example of my brethren, the first be- 
lieving Jews. Being called " in circum- 
cision," I did not think it necessary to 
become uncircumcised ; for this would 
be to make " uncircumcision" of some 
avail in Christ Jesus ; whereas the apos- 
tle declares it to be of as little avail as 
circumcision; but that, like the difference 
between male and female, it is an outward 
not a spiritual distinction. This is a truth 
which most Christians of the present day 
have entirely lost sight of; so much so, 
that I fear their Christian charity will 
hardly prevent them from bestowing the 
epithet, not merely of Judaizer, but per- 



VISIT TO THE SYNAGOGUE. 57 

haps even that of Apostate, on the first 
believing Jew, who shall circumcise his 
son. During my late visit to my father, 
I did not feel that Christianity imposed 
upon me a liberty, if I may use such con- 
tradictory terms, that would necessarily 
wound the consciences of those around 
me ; I, therefore, carefully attended to all 
the little Jewish observances, the omis- 
sion of which would have caused them 
pain; while they were fully aware I attach- 
ed no superstitious importance to them. 
This attention to their feelings gratified 
them much; but their surprise and plea- 
sure were greatly increased, when, on the 
first Sabbath after my arrival at home, 
they found me ready to accompany them 
to the synagogue. I could assure them, 
with truth, that, as the prayers used on 
that day were entirely scriptural, I could 
join in them with all my heart; and that 
in regard to the petitions for the coming 
of the Messiah, I, who looked for Him 
to come " the second time, without sin 
5 



58 VISIT TO THE SYNAGOGUE. 

unto salvation," longed as earnestly for 
his glorious appearing as they did. My 
appearance in the synagogue of my na- 
tive town, the first Meshumid (apostate) 
who had ever been known to enter there, 
excited a great sensation; a few indivi- 
duals hissed ; but the respect felt for my 
father and grandfather, kept the majority 
silent. I was made to sit beside the chief 
persons in the congregation, and was 
called upon to read the chapter in the 
law. It happened to be the one in which 
the lifting up of the brazen serpent is 
narrated ; I need not say, with what in- 
tense interest I read it; thinking of the 
Son of Man, who was, in like manner 
lifted up, that whosoever belie veth in 
Him should not perish, but have eternal 
life. u O Lord Jesus ! hasten to send 
again among thy brethren according to 
the flesh, men with whom, when they 
preach, Thou wilt also work, confirming 
the word with signs following: 'bearing 
them witness both with signs and won- 



HOSPITALITY OF THE JEWS. 59 

ders, and divers miracles, and gifts of the 
Holy Ghost !'" (Mark xvi. 20. Heb. ii. 

4 ') 

When I lament that the spirit of power, 

and the spirit of love, have both disap- 
peared from the visible Christian Church, 
do not suppose, my dear Christian friends, 
that I contrast the conduct of Christians 
and Jews, with the spirit of being puffed 
up for one against another: no; it is 
with the desire of stating the simple truth 
in regard to both parties, and of stirring 
up the real disciples of Jesus, by a more 
abundant manifestation of His spirit of 
love, to provoke to jealousy my brethren, 
according to the flesh, instead of being 
eclipsed by them in the performance of 
many duties enforced by Christ and His 
apostles. It is a humiliating fact for pro- 
fessing Christians, that such precepts as, 
44 Use hospitality one to another, without 
grudging:" " Be not forgetful to enter- 
tain strangers:*' with all those that incul- 
cate love to our brethren, are much more 



60 BROTHERLY LOVE 

generally exhibited amongst the Jews, 
than amongst them. When a poor Jew 
arrives in a town where he is a total 
stranger, if there be but a few of his 
brethren in the place, he goes to them 
without hesitation ; well assured that, be 
they poor or rich, he will receive from 
them food and lodging. If he is a devout 
or learned man, he is received with hon- 
our and distinction, however mean his 
outward appearance may be. In a town 
where there is a synagogue, a poor stran- 
ger goes to one of the deacons, appoint- 
ed for this and other offices of charity, 
who gives him a card of introduction to 
one of the wealthy members of the con- 
gregation, who immediately provides for 
his wants. If he be going a distant jour- 
ney, he is often provided with letters of re- 
commendation to the next town, at which 
he means to sop; and thus a Jew not 
only may, but as it is well known to my 
brethren, often does travel over a great 
part of the continent of Europe, with 



AMONG THE JEWS. 61 

scarcely a penny in his pocket. It may 
be asked, whether such unsuspicious 
kindness is never abused ? I believe, com- 
paratively, seldom ; but, however this 
may be, it has never operated as a check 
upon the fulfilment of what the Jews con- 
sider a sacred duty. I must not omit to 
mention, that the facility of obtaining 
education, which in this enlightened coun- 
try is comparatively a recent advantage, 
has long been enjoyed by the children of 
the poorest Jews on the Continent. It 
is customary for the Rabbi of each place, 
to spend much of his time in the educa- 
tion of youth; and among his pupils are 
often as many as twenty or thirty sons of 
poor parents, on whom he bestows tuition 
gratuitously ; not only without grudging, 
but considering it an honour to be so em- 
ployed. Those youths, again, are main- 
tained by the Jews resident in the place ; 
such as can afford it, giving one or more 
days' board in every week to one of the 
students ; who thus, if the Jews be more 



62 BROTHERLY LOVE 

numerous than wealthy? is sometimes in- 
debted to many of his brethren for a live- 
lihood. Those again, who cannot afford 
to give even a weekly meal to any of the 
poor students, make them, from time to 
time, little donations of money, and thus 
show that they take a kindly interest in 
those who are, in many cases, orphans, 
or far from home and relatives. If any 
of those students manifest particular piety 
or talents, it is no unusual thing for such 
21 one to be taken to reside in the family 
of one of the more wealthy Jews, where he 
is entirely supported, and thus enabled to 
prosecute his studies without the inter- 
ruption of needing to labour for his sup- 
port. And it will no doubt surprise some 
of my Christian friends, among whom 
matrimonial connexions are formed on a 
very different principle, to be told, that it 
is very common for this poor student to 
oe united to one of the daughters of his 
wealthy patron, who thinks such a son- 
in-law not a disgrace, but an honour ; and 



, 



AMONG THE JEWS. 63 

who is himself the promoter of the union. 
Those individuals are generally chosen to 
be the Rabbi of some congregation ; but 
until some such call removes him from 
the house of his father-in-law, it is no 
uncommon thing for him to remain there 
even for ten or fifteen years ; himself, his 
wife, and family, maintained without any 
labour on his part. Thus, though we no 
longer enjoy the tents, and flocks, and 
herds, of our fathers, in the pleasant land, 
we have not altogether lost their patriar- 
chal habits ; and, it must be admitted, still 
retain some of the features of our father 
Abraham. 

While on the subject of the respect 
paid by the Jews to acknowledged piety, 
it is fit I should mention, that when any 
project is in hand, at all connected with 
religion, the devout persons invariably 
take the lead in all such matters ; the 
wealthy Jews consult them with the ut- 
most deference; and would never pre- 
sume to act, in any thing of the kind, 



64 BROTHERLY LOVE 

without their sanction and assistance. 
My dear Christian friends, I will not trust 
myself to draw the opposite picture to 
this, but will leave you to make the ap- 
plication for yourselves. 

The ties of grace ought to be stronger 
than those of nature ; and the Church of 
Christ, in "knowing no man after the 
flesh," ought to have been knit together 
by a spiritual union, far closer than that 
of natural relationship. Notwithstanding 
this, the consanguinity of the Jews binds 
them to each other, with an intensity of 
feeling, which I fear finds a nearer paral- 
lel among children of the same family, 
than among the professing disciples of the 
same blessed Master. We are often re- 
proached with being literalists ; and cer- 
tainly we have an obstinate way of cling- 
ing to the very letter of things, that makes 
brotherhood with us a reality and not a 
name. We can truly understand the simi- 
litude of a human body, and say, " if one 
member suffer, all the members suffer 



AMONG THE JEWS. 65 

with it." Should a stranger seek to op- 
press the humblest individual, all the 
brethren will unite as one man to resist 
the aggression to the utmost of their 
power ; former quarrels and animosities 
among themselves, are forgotten in a mo- 
ment, and all unite for common defence, 
if one member of ihe family is touched. 
They are also exceedingly sensitive in 
regard to all that would cast a stigma on 
the nation. If a Jew is imprisoned, oris 
likely to suffer any public disgrace, no 
expense would be spared, that could by 
any possibility avert what is so repug- 
nant to their feelings. So strongly does 
this feeling, conjoined with the higher 
one of compassion, operate, that should 
it be known that a Jew has been arrested, 
and cast into prison, in some distant 
town, where perhaps few or none of his 
brethren reside, it is no very uncommon 
thing for one who can afford it, to take a 
journey of many miles to inquire into the 
matter, and see if any thing can be done 
to release him. 



66 A POLISH RABBI. 

To prove that such acts spring from a 
deeper principle than mere feeling, I shall 
relate an anecdote of my late brother-in- 
law, which my widowed sister told me 
on my recent visit to her; which by 
showing the sense of sin that accompanies 
a transgression of the law of love, will 
demonstrate that they are not produced 
by the mere impulse of natural compas- 
sion. One day a poor Jew came beg- 
ging to him, and Rabbi Cohen, who was 
not rich, gave him as much as he could 
afford, but not so much as answered the 
expectations of the applicant, who ex- 
pressed himself much dissatisfied. On 
this my brother-in-law became irritated, 
spake harshly to him, and sent him away. 
About an hour after this one of his chil- 
dren was taken very ill. When my 
sister informed him of it, and asked him 
to pray for the child, he wept, and said, 
*« How can I now go before my heavenly 
Father, when I have so offended against 
my brother?" He then called all his 



A POLISH RABBI. 67 

students together, and told them how he 
had sinned against the Lord, by speaking 
harshly to his poor brother. He and the 
young men then went from house to 
house, until they found the poor Jew, 
when the Rabbi publicly asked pardon of 
him for what had happened. My sister 
added, that after this the child was im- 
mediately restored ; so habitually do the 
Jews refer all the events of their life to 
the especial providence of God. 

When I think of this worthy man, un- 
der whose tuition I was for some years, I 
am forcibly reminded of the apostle Paul's 
definition of what a bishop should be : 
44 A lover of hospitality, a lover of good 
men, sober, just, holy, temperate." (Tit. 
i. 8.) He always freely educated from 
ten to fifteen children of the poor ; and 
afterwards used all his influence to get 
them established in life. On Sabbath 
afternoons his house used to be filled with 
poor devout men, who, after partaking of 
his Sabbath meal, spent the evening in 



68 



A POLISH RABBI. 



singing psalms and hymns with him. 
His charity was unbounded : he literally 
fulfilled the precept, " He that hath two 
coats, let him impart to him that hath 
none." If, when the poor came to him, 
my sister happened to be from home, or 
any other cause prevented him from hav- 
ing access to his wardrobe, he made no 
scruple of parting with some of the gar- 
ments he was then wearing, rather than 
send his poor brother empty away. Do 
not suppose that I wish to set forth my 
esteemed relative as a singular character ; 
I give him as a specimen of a class, as a 
sample of what many of the Jewish Rab- 
bis are, and of what it is considered that 
all ought to be. 

The books held in most esteem by the 
pious Jews, inculcate brotherly-kindness 
very strongly ; and are particularly severe 
against offences of the tongue. The 
Zohar not only states it to be an offence 
to call our neighbours by an opprobrious 
name, but even reprobates giving him a 



RABBI JOSE. 



nickname of any sort. It says, almost in 
the very words of our Lord, "Whoso- 
ever shall call his brother a wicked one, 
for him hell is prepared." This is, ac- 
cording to the favourite mode of the He- 
brew writers, illustrated by an anecdote 
of one Rabbi Jose, who, on passing two 
men, heard one cursing the other; upon 
which he said to him, " Thou hast acted 
like a wicked one." Whereupon it was 
reported to Rabbi Judah, that Rabbi Jose 
had called his neighbour a wicked one. 
Rabbi Jose defended himself by saying, 
that it was the wicked act he was reprov- 
ing, which was like the act of a wicked 
one ; but that he did not call his brother 
a wicked one. The good Rabbi may 
appear to some to make a distinction of 
rather a subtle kind ; but when examined, 
I think it will be found to contain the 
essence of the God-like principle, of lov- 
ing the sinner, while we condemn his 
sin. 

It may be interesting to my Christian 



70 FEAST OF THE JEWS. 

friends to learn the manner in which the 
Jews celebrate, in the lands of their dis- 
persion, the various festivals and fasts 
which God appointed them to observe 
" throughout their generations." I shall 
shortly notice the feasts and fasts in the 
order in which they occur. 

The passover is kept, as all readers of 
Scripture know, on the fourteenth day of 
the first month. I shall say nothing of 
its original institution, nor of the manner 
in which it is appointed to be kept in the 
land of Judea, but shall simply remind 
my Christian friends, that it consisted of 
two parts, the paschal lamb and the un- 
leavened bread. No sacrifices being al- 
lowed out of the land, the dispersion of 
the Jews has necessarily caused an altera- 
tion in the mode of this part of the com- 
memoration ; but as there is no occasion 
to make any change in any other part, we 
may suppose that, in other respects, it is 
celebrated now in the same way it has 
always been; there is at least strong rea- 



UNLEAVENED BREAD. 71 

son to believe, from the narrative in the 
Gospels, that in the days when our Lord 
Jesus Christ partook of it, the mode was 
the same as that at present in use. 

In order to make some of the customs 
I shall mention more easily understood, 
I must inform my readers that the word 
homitz has a wider signification than is 
generally attached to that of leaven, by 
which it is rendered in the English Bi- 
ble : Homitz signifies the fermentation of 
corn in any shape, and applies to beer, 
and to all spirituous liquors distilled from 
corn. While, therefore, there are four 
days in passover week on which business 
may be done, being, as it were, only 
half-holidays, a distiller or brewer must 
suspend his business during the whole 
time. And I must do my brethren the 
justice to say, that they do not attempt to 
evade the strictness of the command, to 
put away all leaven, by any ingenious 
shift, but fulfil it to the very letter; I 
know an instance of a person in trade who 



72 UNLEAVENED BREAD. 

had several casks of spirits sent to him, 
which arrived during the time of the pas- 
sover; had they come a few days sooner, 
they would have been lodged in some 
place, apart from his house, until the 
feast was over; but during its continua- 
tion he did not think it right to meddle 
with them ; and after hesitating a little 
time what to do, he at length poured the 
whole out into the street. About the 
time of harvest, the pious Jews, who 
keep a watchful eye over their less scru- 
pulous brethren, go ofien into the fields 
to watch the first ripe wheat ; and no ex- 
pense is spared to get in a sufficient quan- 
tity as quickly as possible, wherewith to 
bake the unleavened bread the ensuing 
spring. This is carefully kept in a dry 
place, lest any moisture should fall upon 
it, and cause fermentation. Ahout three 
months before Easter, the Jews in dif- 
ferent towns have a mill, for which the 
Gentile proprietors generally make them 
pay a large sum of money. They take 



PASSOVER. 73 

a whole week to clean it, so that not the 
least mark of the old flour is to be seen. 
When the time of the feast draws near, a 
baker's oven is also hired ; which must 
be heated several times before they con- 
sider that the t; old leaven is purged out." 
The poor Jews and Jewesses are then 
employed in kneading and rolling out the 
cakes as quickly as they can; so that the 
whole operation must not exceed ten min- 
utes. If there are not poor Jews enough 
in the place, to do the whole work, the 
richer ones share in this pious labour. 
The night before the passover, the mas- 
ter of the family searches the house with 
candles, removing every crumb of bread 
that may be lying about; blessing the 
Lord who hath commanded His people 
to put away leaven. The day before 
the feast begins, all the firstborn males 
amongst the Jews fast, in commemoration 
of God's goodness in sparing them, when 
He smote all the first-born of the Egyp- 
tians ; and before sunset they assemble in 
6 



74 PASSOVER. 

the synagogue for prayer. The prayers 
at this season are peculiarly interesting ; 
for while praise is given to God for the 
Egyptian deliverance, prayer is offered 
for the greater deliverance that is to take 
place at the time of the Messiah; " Lord 
deliver us," say they, " from the hands 
of our enemies, and gather us from the 
four corners of the earth, through the 
Messiah, the son of David, our righteous- 
ness." 

The solemn evening having come, the 
master of the house, on their return from 
the synagogue, sits down at the head of 
the table, the whole family, including the 
Jewish servants, being assembled round 
it. On the table are placed three plates; 
one contains three passover cakes, another 
horse-radish and bitter herbs, and a third 
a bone of lamb, or a small piece of roast 
meat, and a roasted egg; the two last are 
in commemoration of the paschal lamb, 
and the offering that accompanied it. The 
three cakes are put in a napkin ; one at 



PASSOVER. 75 

the top, one in the middle, and one at the 
bottom. Besides these three plates, there 
are other two dishes ; one containing 
vinegar or salt and water, the other a 
mixuire of various ingredients worked up 
to the consistence of lime, in remem- 
brance of the lime in which our fathers 
worked in Egypt. Each individual at 
table is provided with a glass, or small 
cup, for wine, which is filled four times 
in the course of the service. Among the 
older and more devout Jews, it is custo- 
mary for the master of the family to sit 
exactly in the manner prescribed in Ex- 
odus, with his loins girt, his staff in his 
hand, and shoes on his feet, just as if he 
had gone out of Egypt yesterday. 

The service commences by the repeti- 
tion of several blessings, and then they 
drink the first cup of wine, called the 
wine of the sanctification. The master 
of the house then dips some of the bitter 
herbs in vinegar, and gives a small por- 
tion to each one at table. He then breaks 



76 PASSOVER. 

the middle cake, leaves one half in the 
dish, and hides the other until after sup- 
per. This hidden part is called the Ef- 
Jiekoumen. The Jews do not profess to 
know with certainty what it signifies, but 
the common belief is, that it is in com- 
memoration of the hidden manna; and in 
this opinion I am disposed to join, for rea- 
sons that I shall hereafter state. They 
then lay hold of the dish containing the 
passover cakes and the bitter herbs, and 
say: "Lo ! this is as the bread of afflic- 
tion, which our ancestors ate in the land 
of Egypt; let all those who are hungry 
come and eat thereof, and all who are 
needy, come, and celebrate our passover. 
At this time we are here ; next year we 
hope to be in the land of Israel. Now 
we are servants ; next year we hope to 
be free children." The youngest in 
the company then asks : " Wherefore is 
this night distinguished from all other 
nights?" To which the whole of the 
others reply : " Because we were slaves 



PASSOVER. 77 

unto Pharaoh, in Egypt, and the Lord 
our God brought us out from hence, with 
a mighty hand and an outstretched arm." 
They then proceed to rehearse God's 
mighty acts of deliverance towards our 
fathers ; the head of the family reading or 
repeating, the rest making responses. 
When this is finished, the unleavened 
bread is shown to all, as a mark of their 
freedom, and a portion of it is received and 
eaten by each. They again eat bitter 
herbs, dipped in the mixture that repre- 
sents the lime. This concludes the first 
and greater part of the service. Supper 
is then put on table, and is a meal of so- 
cial rej oicing. The union of domestic en- 
joyment with religious services, was, in 
the Jewish religion, the appointment of 
God himself; and it is probably only 
those who have experienced it, who can 
fully understand the wisdom of the Divine 
Legislator, in thus connecting the highest 
act of which man is capable, that of wor- 
shipping God, with the purest and holi- 
est of natural affections. 



78 Elijah's cup. 

The supper being ended, two large 
cups are filled with wine. One of these 
is taken by the master of the house, and 
a blessing pronounced. This blessing 
refers very distinctly to the time of Mes- 
siah's reign: "O most Merciful! make 
us to inherit the day when all shall be 
sabbath ; and Ave shall rest in life for ever : 
— most Merciful ! cause us to be in- 
heritors of the day when all shall be good ; 
O most Merciful ! make us worthy to see 
the days of the Messiah, and life in the 
world to come: — May he who exalteth 
the salvation of his king, and showeth 
mercy to his anointed, to David and his 
seed for evermore, who causes peace to 
exist in the heavens, cause His peace to 
be upon us, and upon all Israel. Amen." 
This is in strict harmony with the prayer 
of our Lord: " Thy kingdom come ! Thy 
will be done on earth as it is in heaven." 
After this blessing, the head of the family 
gives the cup to all those sitting around. 
He then brings forth the hidden cake, and 



79 

distributes apiece to each. The second 
cup of wine called Elijah's cup, is then 
placed before him, the door is opened, 
and a solemn pause of expectation ensues. 
It is at this moment that the Jews expect 
the arrival of Elijah will take place, to 
announce the glad tidings that the Messiah 
is at hand. Well do I remember the inter- 
est with which, when a boy, I looked to- 
wards the door, hoping that Elijah might 
really enter ; for notwithstanding the dis- 
appointment year after year, his arrival 
is still confidently expected. Of this cup 
of Elijah no one partakes, but it is looked 
upon as sanctified. The ceremony con- 
cludes by singing the hymn of " Lord, 
build thy temple speedily ;" at the end of 
which the head of the family says : " This 
year we are here ; may we be next year 
in Jerusalem." 

Before proceeding to speak of the other 
festivals, I would make a few remarks on 
this feast, as viewed in connexion with 
the first institution of our Lord's supper. 



80 

The passover has been celebrated by the 
Jews, without intermission, since the Ba- 
bylonish captivity; and as we are not a 
people given to adopt modern innovations 
of any sort, it is probable the mode has ne- 
ver been changed, in any other way than 
by the addition, or substitution, of differ- 
ent prayers, suited to the state of disper- 
sion, which are to be met with in all the 
various services, as well as allusions 
to the sayings of certain eminent men, 
the date of which is of course not difficult 
to ascertain. It is, therefore, most pro- 
bable, that our Lord and his disciples, in 
all the ceremonial part, commemorated it 
in the same manner as we now do. The 
custom of dipping the bitter herbs, seems 
to accord with Christ's word: "He that 
dippeth with me in the dish ;" " He to 
whom I shall give a sop when I have dip- 
ped it." In reading the narratives of the 
four Evangelists, we must remember, 
they were written by Jews, and that those 
for whom they were first written were 



THE LORD'S SUPPER. 81 

either Jews, or the disciples of Jews: 
none of them, therefore, enter into any 
detailed account of the services of that 
evening, but simply allude to them as mat- 
ters well known. We are not, therefore, 
to be surprised that the two cups are not 
mentioned in all the narratives; but to 
regard the narrative of them by St. Luke 
as sufficient evidence that they were used. 
In ehap. xxii. 17, it is said; " He took 
the cup, and gave thanks, and said, Take 
this and divide it among yourselves ;" 
and in v. 20, " Likewise also the cup 
after supper, saying, this cup is the New 
Testament in my blood." The breaking 
of the bread being mentioned in connec- 
tion with this cup, gives every reason to 
suppose that it was the hidden cake which 
our Lord used for this purpose, and which 
I have already said, is generally consid- 
ered commemorative of the hidden manna. 
It is very probable that this was intro- 
duced during the time of the second tem- 
ple ; the pot with the manna not being 



82 FEAST OF WEEKS. 

there. Our Lord said to them at a for- 
mer period ; " Your fathers did eat manna 
in the wilderness, and are dead; he that 
eateth of me shall never die. The bread 
which I will give, is my flesh, which I 
will give for the life of the world." It 
seems very appropriate, to take that which 
was used as an emblem of the hidden 
manna, to represent that broken body, 
given for the lie and nourishment of the 
world, as the manna was given to the 
children of Israel. 

From the beginning of the passover, 
we count fifty days, as it is commanded 
in Lev. xxiii. 13, at the termination of 
which the feast of weeks commences. 
There are appropriate prayers to be used 
in private devotions during that time ; one 
of which is, " May it please thee, O most 
Merciful! to build our temple speedily, 
even in our days; and then we shall 
serve thee in fear, as in the days of old." 
From the forty-seventh day until the fifti- 
eth, is kept by the pious Jews as a solemn 



• FIRST FRUITS. 83 

period, in commemoration of the three 
days' preparation, before the giving of 
the law. 

This feast of weeks is now chiefly kept 
in remembrance of the time when the law 
was given from Mount Sinai ; as the ob- 
ject of its original institution, the offering 
of first fruits, is necessarily confined to 
the land of Judea, and cannot be perform- 
ed in their dispersion. The coincidence 
of the season of the feast of weeks with 
the time of giving the law, is traced out 
by the Hebrew writers in the following 
manner. In the nineteenth chapter of 
Exodus, it is stated, that in the third 
month after the children of Israel came 
out of Egypt, in the same day they came 
to the wilderness of Sinai. From the 
day being mentioned emphatically, as a 
particular day, it is supposed to have been 
the first day of the month. This, and 
the two following days, it is said, were 
occupied by Moses in receiving the com- 
mands of the Lord, and in conveying to 



84 FASTS. 

Him the answers of the people ; then the 
three days of preparation brought it to the 
sixth day of the month Sivan, which is 
just fifty days from the passover. Be 
this as it may, such is the light in which 
it is at present viewed by the Jews ; and 
the third of the days above alluded to, be- 
ing supposed to be that previous to the 
anniversary of the giving of the law, is 
kept with peculiar solemnity; the whole 
night being spent in prayer and reading 
the law. The wealthy Jews generally 
consider it an honour, when they can ob- 
tain the company of several of their breth- 
ren, however poor, who are esteemed 
pious and devout persons, to spend this 
evening at their houses. 

There is nothing remarkable in the 
commemoration of this feast; there is 
worship at the synagogue both days of 
its celebration ; there is a special service 
for both days ; and the portions of Scrip- 
ture read, are the first chapter of Ezekiel, 
and the third chapter of Habakkuk. 



FAST OF THE FIFTH MONTH. 85 

It is striking and interesting, to observe 
the analogy between the two feasts of 
first fruits, and those two important events 
in the Christian dispensation, which oc- 
curred during their celebration. On the 
morning of the day on which the first 
sheaf of first fruits was waved, our bless- 
ed Saviour rose from the dead, " the first 
fruits of them that sleep," and the se- 
cond feast, or feast of weeks, was sig- 
nalized by the out-pouring of the Holy 
Ghost, " the first fruits of the Spirit." 
This coincidence would doubtless power- 
fully impress the minds of those who 
witnessed these two grand events ; and it 
should magnify to us the manifold wis- 
dom of God, in thus making the obser- 
vances of the law "a schoolmaster to 
bring them to Christ." 

Before proceeding to speak of the feast 
of trumpets, I shall mention two facts 
that intervene, which are alluded to in 
Zechariah, viii. 19. These are, the fasts 
of the fourth and fifth months ; the former 



86 FEAST OF TRUMrETS. 

in commemoration of the time when Je- 
rusalem was taken ; the latter of the burn- 
ing of the temple ; as related in Jeremiah 
lii. 6 — 14. This season is kept by the 
pious Jews with great solemnity and deep 
mourning. During all the three weeks 
between the two fasts, many of them 
met together every day, weeping and 
lamenting because the glory of the I^ord 
has departed; because "our holy and our 
beautiful house, where our fathers praised 
God, is burned up with fire, and all our 
pleasant things are laid waste." On the 
Sabbath before the fast of the fifth month, 
the whole congregation, men, women, 
and children, put off their ornaments, 
and dress just as they do after the death 
of a near relative. Many of those Jews 
who do not habitually wear their beards, 
refrain from cutting them during these 
three weeks. On this Sabbath, the first 
chapter of Isaiah is chaunted in the syna- 
gogue, to a very mournful melody, as a 
confession of sin ; in consequence of 



FEAST OF TRUMPETS. 87 

which, Jerusalem is filled with strangers, 
and Zion with murderers. The fast be- 
ing on the ninth day of the month, they 
begin it, according to the usual custom of 
reckoning, " from even unto even," (Le- 
vit. xxiii. 32,) on the evening of the 
eighth day, just before sunset. That 
evening they all assemble in the syna- 
gogue, and there sit on the ground, read- 
ing the lamentations of Jeremiah, and the 
137th Psalm. The next morning they 
again meet in the synagogue, repeating 
the same service, and making confession 
of sin with many tears. They taste nei- 
ther meat nor drink, until the stars are 
seen on the evening of the ninth day, 
thus keeping a strict fast for more than 
twenty-four hours. On the Sabbath after 
this fast, the 40th chapter of Isaiah is 
read in the synagogue ; and it is interest- 
ing to observe the change in the counte- 
nances of the devout Jews, when this 
precious portion of Scripture is rehearsed 
in their ears ; they look as if the prophet 



88 FEAST OF TRUMPETS. 

Isaiah were even then present with them, 
speaking comfort to them. O, may the 
Lord speedily remove the veil from be- 
fore their eyes, that they may behold in 
Jesus of Nazareth their comfort and joy. 

come, Lord Jesus! Come quickly, 
even in our day, and establish thy king- 
dom ; and then truly all fasts shall be 
turned into cheerful feasts ; the children 
of the bride chamber shall no longer 
mourn when the bridegroom is with them. 

1 may state here, as being closely con- 
nected with the two preceding fasts, that 
the fast of the seventh month, alluded to 
by Zechariah, occurs immediately after 
the feast of trumpets; it is commemora- 
tive of the murder of Gedaliah, narrated 
in 2 Kings xxv. 25, 26, and is kept in a 
similar manner to the others. 

The feasts of trumpets is celebrated on 
the first day of the seventh month. It is 
now generally called Rosh Hashanah, or 
the new year; reckoning from the period 
of the creation. My readers will remem- 



FEAST OF TRUMPETS. 89 

ber that the month Nisan or Abib, was 
ordered to be the beginning of months, in 
commemoration of the deliverance out of 
Egypt; it is supposed to have been for- 
merly the seventh month, and that the 
month Tishri, which commences with 
the feast of trumpets was the beginning 
of the year. Both periods are now in 
use? by the former, called the ecclesiasti- 
cal year, all the feasts and fasts are reck- 
oned ; and by the latter, or civil year, 
the Jews still compute time in the ordi- 
nary transactions of life. 

For a month before the feast of trum- 
pets, each day, after morning service in 
the synagogue, the ram's horn is sounded. 
This horn is just as it is taken off the 
ram, only a little straightened, and made 
capable of giving forth a sound. The 
common idea is, that this is to awaken 
the mercy of God towards them, by put- 
ting Him in remembrance of the time 
when Abraham was about to offer up 
Isaac, and the Lord graciously pointed 
7 



90 FEAST OF TRUMPETS. 

out to hiin a ram, entangled in a thicket 
by his horns. Oh how confident ought 
we to show ourselves of the mercy and 
love of God, who profess to be justified 
by the offering up of Him, of whom 
Isaac was a figure ! How unbecoming 
is all doubt and distrust, in those who see 
this great act of God's reconciliation ! 

About a week before the feast, the Jews 
assemble every morning in the synagogue, 
at three or four o'clock, for prayer and 
prostration before the Lord. The prayers 
and confessions are very striking, calling 
upon God to pardon them whatsoever 
they may have done amiss, during the 
year that is past; and entreating for spi- 
ritual and temporal blessings in the year 
to come. The day previous to the feast, 
they go to the synagogue at two o'clock 
in the morning; again making confession 
of sin, and reminding God of His cove- 
nant with our fathers: this morning is 
called Zechor Berith, a reminding of the 
covenant. The following are some of 
the petitions used on this day : — 



FEAST OF TRUMPETS. 91 

" Righteousness belongeth unto Thee, 
but unto us confusion of faces : what can 
we answer or say unto Thee, or how 
shall we be justified before our God? 
We will seek to return unto Thee, for 
Thy right hand is stretched out to receive 
the penitent, those that return unto Thee 
with their whole heart: Thou hearest 
their cries for Thy tender mercies' sake. 
We come before Thee, very poor and 
needy ; do not, we beseech thee, send us 
empty away. Our souls and bodies are 
Thine; Thou hast made us; oh! have 
mercy upon Thine own workmanship. 
Do this for Thine own name's sake, for 
Thy name is gracious and merciful. If 
thou shouldest mark iniquity, who could 
stand ? But there is forgiveness with 
Thee that thou mayest be feared : with 
Thee is the fountain of life: in Thy light 
we shall see light. We fall down before 
Thee, not in our own righteousness, but 
for Thy righteousness' sake. O Lord ! 
let all Thy works praise Thee, and let 



92 SOUNDING THE TRUMPET. 

all Thy creatures worship before Thy 
face: may they all be knit together in 
one knot, to do Thy will with their whole 
hearts. Give honour unto Thy people, 
praise to those that fear Thee, faith to 
those that seek Thee, and open the mouths 
of those that wait for Thee ; give joy unto 
Thy land, and gladness unto Thy city; 
cause the horn of Thy servant David to 
be exalted ; and may the light of the son 
of Jesse, Thy anointed, be set in order 
speedily, even in our days. And may 
Thy kingdom speedily begin upon all 
Thy works, upon Zion the dwelling of 
Thy glory, and in Jerusalem the city of 
Thy holiness, according as thou hast de- 
clared in Thy holy words : ' the Lord 
shall reign for ever and ever, even thy 
God, O Zion, to all generations, Halle- 
lujah." ' 

On the morning of the feast of trum- 
pets, after assembling in the synagogue, 
they again renew the confession of their 
sins during the past year, and entreat 



SOUNDING THE TRUMPET. 93 

mercy and forgiveness. The general ex- 
pectation is, that at this season, in which 
the original creation was accomplished, 
the re-creation, or restitution of all things, 
will take place ; that the Jews shall be 
restored to their own land, and the peace- 
ful reign of Messiah commence. Much 
of the service of the day has a direct re- 
ference to this subject. 

The trumpet, which is the ram's horn 
before mentioned, is sounded three times, 
by a devout man. The first sound is 
called Malchuth, or the kingdom; and is 
accompankd with an invocation to God, 
to reign over the whole creation, in the 
fulness of His glory; that every creature 
may know Him to be the King, and every 
living soul say, " The God of Israel 
reigneth." 

The second sound is called Zechrou- 
nouth, or Remembrances : this is to re- 
mind God of his promises to Abraham, 
Isaac, and Jacob ; and to entreat Him to 
remember their posterity with mercy. 



94 DAY OF ATONEMENT. 

The third sound is called Shouph- 
routh, or the trumpets ; this is to call to 
remembrance the time when, after having 
delivered them out of the bondage of 
Egypt, God gave them the law from 
Mount Sinai, with the sound of a trum- 
pet; and to invoke Him to hasten the 
time when the great trumpet shall be 
blown, and they shall all come to worship 
the Lord in the holy Mount of Jerusalem. 
(Isaiah xxvii.) I may just remind my 
Christian readers of a striking coincidence 
in the use of this symbol, in the book of 
Revelation ; that when the last trumpet 
is sounded, it is announced that " the 
kingdoms of this world are become the 
kingdoms of our Lord and of his Christ, 
and He shall reign for ever and ever." 
(Rev. xi. 15.) 

The day of atonement is the tenth day 
of this same month. The first ten days 
of this month, that is, the whole time 
from the feast of trumpets to the day of 
atonement, are called the ten days of re- 



DAY OF ATONEMENT. 95 

pentance. Part of each day is devoted 
to self-examination and prayer, arid read- 
ing the Psalms. The day before the day 
of atonement is especially set apart for 
private devotion ; the parents exhort and 
bless the children, and instruct them in 
the nature of the services of the follow- 
ing day. On this day there is a very pe- 
culiar ceremony observed, the exact na- 
ture of which has been mistaken by those 
Gentiles who have noticed it; inasmuch 
as they have viewed it in the light of a 
propitiatory sacrifice, a rite which the 
Jews entirely disclaim in their state of 
dispersion. They take a cock, or some 
other winged fowl, and kill it ; declaring 
themselves to be worthy of death on ac- 
count of their sins, and using this cock 
as their substitute or representative; but 
in order that it may not be considered as 
pertaining to the sacrifices of the law, 
they are forbidden to use any of the fowls 
that were formerly used as sacrifices, or 
offerings, and it is a domestic, and not a 



96 DAY OF ATONEMENT. 

public, ceremony. It is supposed to have 
been first instituted during the Babylonish 
captivity, in order, by this visible sign, 
to remind them, during the privation of 
the temple service, that the penalty of 
death is due to sin. 

In their evening assembly in the syna- 
gogue^ there is generally a deep and so- 
lemn feeling awakened. It is commonly 
believed, that at this time God sits as su- 
preme judge, and disposes of all things ; 
allotting to each individual the events 
that are to befall him in the ensuing year. 
The whole congregation are dressed in 
white garments, kept by them expressly 
for this occasion, and which garments are 
finally used as their grave-clothes. It 
will easily be believed that this is a time 
of much solemnity; the thoughts of many 
revert to their dear departed relatives, 
who perhaps a year before sat beside 
them, arrayed in those vestments which 
have since enveloped their breathless 
clay; while others have the terrors of ap- 



DAY OF ATONEMENT. 97 

proaching death brought vividly to their 
own remembrance. Many sighs and tears 
accompany the prayers that are then of- 
fered up. The rich are to be humbled, 
by seeing themselves dressed in the same 
way as the poorest in the assembly ; see- 
ing there is a time when all must return 
into the ground whence they were taken; 
the vanity of earthly grandeur is thus 
shown forth, and the equality of all men 
in the presence of God, as poor and help- 
less sinners. Service lasts, on this even- 
ing, till nearly ten o'clock. A rigid fast 
is observed for the same length of time I 
have formerly mentioned ; not.even a drop 
of water being taken; and on this day 
children, only eleven years old, frequent- 
ly join in the general abstinence; this is 
not imposed on them as a duty at that 
early age, but most of them do it wil- 
lingly. 

The next morning they again meet in 
the synagogue, and remain there until 
evening. The whole day is spent in 



98 DAY OF ATOiNEMENT. 

prayer, and reading the Psalms and other 
Scriptures ; and also an account is read 
of the services of this day, as performed 
of old in the temple. Many of the prayers 
are very beautiful; but I can only afford 
very short quotations, 

" O God ! before we were created, 
there was no worthiness in us, that we 
should be created ; and now that we are 
created, we are as unprofitable as if we 
had not been created. We are before 
Thee as a vessel filled with shame and 
disgrace; may it please Thee, O God! 
that we may sin no more, and blot out, 
through Thy mercy, all our transgres- 
sions. 

" Oh our God ! and the God of our fa- 
thers ! be pleased to teach all thy servants 
who are standing before Thee this day 
how to pray: may we ask nothing but 
what is in accordance with Thy will: and 
be gracious unto us ; for Thou hast de- 
clared by Thy holy prophets, that Thou 
wilt be gracious unto whom Thou wilt 
be gracious," &c. 



FEAST OF TABERNACLES. 99 

After that part of the service is read, 
detailing the mode of this day's celebra- 
tion in the temple, they again acknow- 
ledge their transgressions, and plead for 
the mercy of God : saying, " We have 
no high priest, no sacrifice, no temple, no 
shechinah ; but we look for Thy free 
mercy, for Thou art gracious and merci- 
ful." In the evening, the service is conclu- 
ded by the sounding of the horn, in com- 
memoration of the sound of the Jubilee 
Trumpet, which, in Leviticus xxv. 9., 
is commanded to be sounded on the day 
of atonement. This was the signal when 
every man was to return to his inherit- 
ance ; and it is now considered as sym- 
bolizing the time when the iniquity of 
Jacob shall be purged — when the Mes- 
siah will come and sprinkle clean water 
upon them, and they shall be clean, — 
when the jubilee shall be proclaimed, and 
they shall all return again unto their own 
land. 

The next of this series of annual so- 



100 FEAST OF TABERNACLES. 

lemnities, is the Feast of Tabernacles ; 
which is commenced on the fifteenth day 
of this same month of Tishri. It is re- 
garded as a season of great joy. 

The Jews connect this festival with the 
future restoration of their nation in the 
same way that several recent students of 
prophecy have done. The lesson read 
in the synagogue on the first day, is Zech. 
xiv., in which this feast is mentioned, in 
connection with the restoration of Jeru- 
salem. At certain parts of the service, 
they take in their hands, as commanded, 
branches of palm, myrtle, and willow, and 
the fruit of the citron. While on the 
subject of the public service, it occurs to 
me to mention two of the blessings, which 
are not peculiar to this feast, but common 
to all ; and which will show how unfound- 
ed is the notion some Christians entertain, 
that the resurrection of the dead is not a 
doctrine distinctly recognized as an arti- 
cle of faith among the Jews ; " Thou 
wilt establish Thy faithfulness to those 



. -. . . - 



FEAST OF TABERNACLES. 101 

that sleep in the dust." " Thou art also 
faithful to revive the dead. Blessed art 
Thou, Lord ! who revivest the dead." 
The tabernacle, or booth, in which they 
were commanded to dwell seven days, is 
now generally erected by the Jews in 
some garden or court-yard adjoining their 
houses. It is an enclosure, about twelve 
or fifteen feet square ; and is composed on 
three sides of boards, the fourth side be- 
ing left open. The roof is generally 
thatched with branches of trees, it being 
necessary that the stars should be seen 
through it, in order to show that it is but 
a temporary dwelling, not a ceiled house. 
In this tent the family assemble, afier re- 
turning from the synagogue ; and having 
blest the Lord for giving them the feast 
of tabernacles, they sup together in it. 
Unless the inclemency of the weather 
renders it impracticable, every meal is 
taken there during the seven days of the 
feast. In southern climates, where the 
air is temperate, and rain is hardly known 



102 FEAST OF TABERNACLES. 

at that season, the tabernacles are of such 
a size as to enable the family to live in 
them entirely, during the seven days ; 
but in these northern latitudes this is not 
attempted, except by certain individual 
members of the family who may choose 
to do so. I may mention, that when 
rainy weather occurs during the feast of 
tabernacles, it is always considered as a 
mark of God's displeasure. 

The seventh day of this feast is called 
Hoshanna rabba, the great salvation ; from 
the idea that their future great deliverance, 
and restoration to their own land, will take 
place at this time, and that the eighth, 
or great day of the feast, will be spent in 
rejoicing over this final deliverance. On 
this day they go round the synagogue 
seven times, carrying the palm and other 
branches in their hands, and singing 
hymns ; saying, " Save us, O God, for 
thy name's sake ; save us for thy right- 
eousness' sake," &e. There are many 
traditions respecting the joyful manner in 



FEAST OF THE DEDICATION. 103 

which the eighth and last day of the feast 
was kept, while they were yet in their 
own land. They used to draw water 
from the fountain of Siloah, which they 
poured out on the altar; and as the Le- 
vites were ascending the steps, it is said, 
they sung the Psalms called the songs of 
degrees, or steps, as it may be translated. 
The rejoicing was so great, that it was a 
common saying, " that he who has not 
seen the joy of the drawing of water, 
does not know what joy means." This 
ceremony is thought to be referred to in 
the twelfth chapter of Isaiah ; and also by 
our Lord, in John vii. 37. 

The feast next in order is one little 
known to Christians, (although it is al- 
luded to in the New Testament,) as it 
commemorates an event that occurred af- 
ter the close of the Old Testament his- 
tory. It is the Feast of the Dedication, 
in remembrance of the cleansing of the 
sanctuary, by Judas Maccabeus. As 
many of my readers may be little ac- 



104 FAST OF THE TENTH MONTH. 

quainted with this part of the history of 
our nation, I shall give the narrative as 
related in the First Book of Maccabees. 

Judas Maccabeus, having put to flight 
the army of Lysias, he and the other 
Jews went up to Mount Zion, and after 
lamenting the desolation of the sanctuary, 
they began to purify and repair it. They 
pulled down the altar which had been 
profaned by the heathen, and built a new 
one. " Now, on the five and twentieth 
day of the ninth month, (which is called 
the month Chisleu,) in the hundred and 
forty-eighth year, they rose up betimes 
in the morning, and offered sacrifice ac- 
cording to the law, upon the new altar of 
burnt-offerings which they had made. 
Look at what time and what day the hea- 
then had profaned it, even in that it was 
dedicated with songs, and citherns, and 
harps, and cymbals. Thus was there 
very great gladness among the people for 
that the reproach of the heathen was put 
away. Moreover, Judas and his breth- 



FEAST OF THE DEDICATION. 105 

ren, with the whole congregation of Israel, 
ordained that the days of the dedication 
of the altar should be kept in their season 
from year to year, by the space of eight 
days, from the five and twentieth day of 
the month Chisleu, with mirth and glad- 
ness." (1st Maccabees, iv. 52 — 59.) 

There is no public service appointed 
for this feast, because the books of Mac- 
cabees, never having been admitted by us 
to a higher rank than that of uninspired 
history, cannot be read in the synagogues. 
It is commemorated in the daily private 
devotions, by a special prayer and thanks- 
giving, appointed to be used during these 
eight days ; and in the family, by the 
lighting of candles or lamps, in remem- 
brance of Judas and his followers having 
"lighted the lamps that were upon the 
candlesticks, that they might give light 
in the temple." (1st Mac. iv. 50.) One 
is lighted on the first night of the feast, 
and one more added every night during 
its continuance. 

8 



106 FEAST OF PURIM. 

In the following month, is the fast of 
the tenth month, mentioned by Zecha- 
riah, in commemoration of the commence- 
ment of the siege of Jerusalem, " And 
it came to pass in the tenth month, in the 
tenth day of the month, that Nebuchad- 
nezzar, king of Babylon, came, he and 
all his army, against Jerusalem, and pitch- 
ed against it, and built forts against it 
round about." (Jer. lii. 4.) There is 
nothing peculiar in the mode of observing 
this fast. 

The last of these commemorative ordi- 
nances is the Feast of Purim, mentioned 
in the ninth chapter of Esther. It is kept 
on the fourteenth and fifteenth days of the 
twelfth month. It is now, as at its first 
institution, "a day of gladness and feast- 
ing, and a good day, and of sending por- 
tions one to another." (Esther ix. 19.) 
On the thirteenth day of the month, there 
is a fast, in remembrance of that kept by 
Esther, before she presented her suit to 
the king. On the evening of the four- 



LEVITES AND COHENS. 107 

teenth, and morning of the fifteenth days, 
there is service in the synagogue, in 
which the narrative of the Jews' deliv- 
erance, and the overthrow of their ene- 
mies, is read from the book of Esther. 
It is a time of much social joy ; members 
of the same family meet together at each 
others' houses, and send presents one to 
another, 

Such is, at this day, the mode of ob- 
serving those outward ordinances, laid by 
God upon His chosen people; which 
have served to accomplish his prophecy 
concerning them, during the long period 
of more than three thousand years : " Lo, 
the people shall dwell alone, and shall 
not be reckoned among the nations." 

I shall, in conclusion, mention, what is 
not generally known to Christians, that 
though there is no officiating priesthood, 
yet the family of the priests, and the rem- 
nant of the Levites that are scattered 
among the dispersion of Judah, are dis- 
tinctly known; and have certain privi- 



108 EXPECTATIONS OF THE JEWS 

leges attached to them. The family of, 
Aaron, who all bear the name of Cohen, 
(a priest) subjoined eitber to their proper 
or family name, have the privilege, on all 
occasions, of reading the first chapter in 
the law ; and, on the festivals, that of pro- 
nouncing the blessing ; which is the same 
given by the Lord to Aaron and his sons 
recorded in Numbers, vi. 24 — 26. " The 
Lord bless thee, and keep thee. The 
Lord make his face to shine upon thee, 
and be gracious unto thee. The Lord 
lift up his countenance upon thee, and 
give thee peace." The Levites read the 
second chapter in the law ; and on festi- 
val days, perform their ancient office of 
waiting on the priests; presenting to them 
a basin of water and a towel, that they 
may wash their hands, immediately be- 
fore they pronounce the blessing. All 
the Cohens present pronounce the bless- 
ing with one voice; which, when they 
are numerous, has a solemn and impos- 
ing effect. 



CONCERNING THE MESSIAH. 109 

I shall now speak of the expectations, 
relative to what is to take place at the 
coming of Messiah, which are universally 
entertained by the Jews ; and then state 
those which are held by the most enlight- 
ened among them. It has often been 
matter of astonishment to me on what the 
Christians in this country ground their 
oft-repeated assertion, that the Jews en- 
tertain only low and carnal notions of the 
work of Messiah ; since I have met with 
very few who have any acquaintance 
with Hebrew writers, and still fewer who 
have had opportunities of familiar inter- 
course with well informed Jews. Amid 
various degrees of light on all these sub- 
jects, I may fairly state the universal be- 
lief to be: That at the coming of Mes- 
siah, the land of Israel will be restored to 
its former fertility and beauty; the nation 
will return thither, and be re-instated in 
their original glory and pre-eminence ; 
that the resurrection of the just will take 
place, and a reign of righteousness and 



' 



110 EXPECTATIONS OF THE JEWS 

peace commence. And that, in addition 
to these outward blessings, the intercourse 
with the Lord God Almighty, which sin 
has interrupted, will again, through the 
medium of the Messiah, be renewed. I 
conceive the blindness, that in part hath 
happened to Israel, to consist, not so 
much in blindness regarding the future, 
as in ignorance of the present state of 
things between God and man. By not 
seeing in Jesus of Nazareth, Him, who 
hath put away sin by the sacrifice of Him- 
self, so that it no longer stands as a bar- 
rier in the way of the sinner's approach 
to God, they do not see the full liberty of 
access we have by faith, even now, into 
the holiest of all, whither the forerunner 
hath for us entered. And do all who 
think themselves real Christians see this ? 
I fear not: I have met with many of those 
who daily study the Scriptures, who yet 
seem to keep at a fearful distance from 
the Fountain of life and joy; who seem 
to regard God rather as an angry judge, 






CONCERNING THE MESSIAH. Ill 

than as a reconciled father in Christ Jesus ; 
alike slow of heart to believe what He 
hath declared in the former and in the 
latter days ; doubting the record that God 
hath given unto them eternal life in His 
Son, and hardly believing Him sincere 
when He saith, that he hath no pleasure 
in the death of the wicked. O my dear 
Christian friends, is this to have the con- 
science purged from dead works? Is this 
spirit of bondage, the liberty wherewith 
you would seek to make the Jew free ? Is 
this dismal uncertainty, the good news, 
the glad tidings of great joy, which you 
have to announce to him, in narrating the 
birth of Jesus of Nazareth? O lay these 
things to heart; it is not words, is not 
names, that can give us comfort ; nothing 
will sustain us in the time of trial, but 
the reality of a present God, seen, and 
felt, and loved. 

The Alshach, a well known and esteem- 
ed Hebrew commentary, in treating of the 
11th chapter of Isaiah, which is one of 



112 EXPECTATIONS OF THE JEWS. 

the regular lessons read once a year in 
the synagogues, says, that the difference 
between the Messiah and the former pro- 
phets is to consist in this: That while 
the Spirit of the Lord only came to them 
occasionally, telling them what to say 
and do, at certain given times, the Spirit 
of the Lord is to rest upon the Messiah, 
as his abiding possession; and by this he 
shall have the power to give life and re- 
surrection. It is no new doctrine to the 
Jews that the " saints shall rise and reign 
with Christ (Messiah)," while " the rest 
of the dead" do not rise at the same time. 
Many of them draw this conclusion from 
the language of the first Psalm: M The 
wicked shall not rise up (the literal trans- 
lation of the Hebrew word, which the 
LXX render in the same way,) in the 
judgment, nor sinners in the congregation 
of the righteous." Indeed, much of the 
language of the New Testament is fami- 
liar to the Jew ; as its figures and allu- 
sions are founded on manners and cus- 



CEREMONY OF MARRIAGE. 113 

toms with which he is well acquainted. 
I shall here mention the ceremonies at- 
tending a Jewish marriage, as they illus- 
trate many important parts of Scripture; 
especially those referring to the union be- 
tween Christ and the Church. In these 
days of innovation, many even of my 
brethren begin to look on some of their 
ancient customs as old-fashioned and un- 
genteel ; the Jews in Germany antl France 
have discontinued many of the old usages; 
but in the interior of Poland, they are 
still kept up. 

In ancient times the ceremony of be- 
trothing, was the solemn engagement by 
which two persons were united for life ; 
and this, in the Talmud, is directed to 
take place at least twelve months before 
the parlies live together. Thus, Mary, 
the mother of our Lord, was " a virgin, 
espoused to a man whose name was Jo- 
seph," yet would have been treated as 
an adulteress had she formed a connexion 
with any other man. In process of time 



114 CEREMONY OF MARRIAGE. 

this law became less strictly observed; 
and, although the betrothing still takes 
place some time before the marriage, (in 
many cases two or three years previous, 
if the parties are young,) yet it is not 
now done by giving a ring, but by a writ- 
ten agreement. This contract, if not dis- 
solved by mutual consent, is so far bind- 
ing, as to involve the party breaking it in 
a pecuniary penalty. 

The night before the celebration of the 
marriage is called the " watch night," 
and is kept as such by the family of the 
bride, and the maidens who attend her on 
the occasion. If the bridegroom's resi- 
dence be at a distance from that of the 
bride, he usually arrives some time in the 
course of this night, or very early in the 
morning. The bridemaids watch anxious- 
ly for his arrival, and as soon as they are 
apprized of his approach, by the joyful 
shout, set up by some of the members of 
the family, who have been on the lookout 
to catch the first glimpse of him : " The 



CEREMONY t)F MARRIAGE. 115 

bridegroom cometh;" they go forth to 
meet him. The precision with which 
this answers to the parable in the 25th 
chapter of Matthew's gospel, scarcely re- 
quires pointing out: M While the bride- 
groom tarried they all slumbered and 
slept. And at midnight there was a cry 
made, Behold the bridegroom cometh; go 
ye out to meet him." Matt, xxv. 5, 6. 

The bride and bridegroom do not meet 
at his arrival; each being engaged apart 
until the afternoon of the marriage-day. 
The morning is observed as a fast by 
both, and each should spend a great part 
of it in devotion, he with his male friends, 
she with her parents and bride-maids. 
A due time before the hour fixed for the 
ceremony, the bride begins " to make 
herself ready;" decking herself in the 
most splendid attire that her means ena- 
ble her to procure. Glittering jewels, 
the " golden embroidery," and " raiment 
of needle work," mentioned in the 45th 
Psalm, are by no means confined to those 



116 CEREMONY OF MARRIAGE. 

who are really opulent ; but the utmost 
efforts are made by the friends of every 
bride to render her wedding-garments as 
splendid as possible. She and her bride- 
maids are usually dressed in white. The 
hair of the bride is cut off with much 
ceremony, and a veil placed upon her 
head ; while her mother and other matrons 
give her exhortations suitable to the first 
assumption of this mark of being in sub- 
jection. 

The Huppo is a canopy supported on 
four posts, large enough to admit under 
it the bride and bridegroom, with their 
special attendants, and the nearest rela- 
tives of the parties. This is usually 
erected in a garden, where there is one; 
but in towns is sometimes to be seen in 
the public street or square. When all 
things are ready, the bridegroom, accom- 
panied by his friends, first repairs to the 
Huppo, where he is joined by the bride, 
closely veiled, led by her bride-maids and 
female relatives. The rabbi reads the 



CEREMONY OF MARRIAGE. 117 

contract of marriage, and then gives them 
an exhortation; the company sing a hymn, 
and the ceremony concludes by the bride- 
groom placing a plain gold ring on the 
fore-finger of the bride's left hand, say- 
ing, " Behold thou art set apart to me 
with this ring, according to the laws of 
Moses and Israel." 

The whole party then return to the 
house, the newly-married pair walking 
first, arm-in-arm. As soon as they arrive, 
they sit down to breakfast together; both 
having fasted until that time. A short time 
after this, the chief feast, or what may 
be called the marriage-supper, takes place, 
which is a very joyful scene. The bride- 
groom sits at the head of the table with 
the bride at his right hand. In former 
times it was usual to continue the festivi- 
ties for seven days ; but this custom is 
now very rare, and confined to a few of 
the wealthy families. 

I may here mention a custom which 
throws light on our Lord's words in Matt. 



118 CEREMONY OF MARRIAGE. 

ix. 15. Besides the appointed fasts of 
the Jewish church, voluntary fasts are 
kept by those who are, or wish to be 
thought, particularly pious. Many, like 
the Pharisee, " fast twice in the week ;" 
namely, on the second and fifth days, 
our Monday and Thursday. It would 
be considered very wrong in those who 
are in the habit of observing such fasts 
to omit them for frivolous reasons; but if 
they are invited to a marriage, they are 
specially exempted from the observance 
of them. Hence our Lord refers to the 
impropriety of fasting in the presence of 
the bridegroom, as to a custom well 
known among the Jews. 

When a Jew reads, that " the marriage 
of the Lamb is come, and his wife hath 
made herself ready," he is forcibly re- 
minded of the song, with which he has 
been accustomed from his youth to com- 
mence every Sabbath: "Go forth, my 
beloved, to meet the bride." By the 
bride is meant, the congregation or as- 



CEREMONY OF MARRIAGE. 119 

sembly of Israel, which conveys precise- 
ly a similar idea to a Jew, that the word 
" The Church," does to a Christian. It 
is on the Sabbath of blessedness, in the 
days of Messiah, that this meeting be- 
tween him and his bride is to take place; 
and the weekly Sabbath, on which this 
song is sung, he regards as the type of 
that M rest that remaineth for the people 
of God." Again, in the New Jerusalem 
coming down out of heaven, he is re- 
minded of that heavenly tabernacle shown 
to Moses in the mount, after which pat- 
tern he made the earthly tabernacle, with 
all its accompaniments, (" the figures of 
the true," St. Paul calls them;) and which 
he is taught to expect shall come down 
from heaven, in the time of Messiah. 

Such are the views, in regard to the 
work of the Messiah, which are held, 
not merely by the more pious and learn- 
ed among the Jews, but by all who have 
received any instruction, or formed any 
ideas, on the subject. I do not give them 






120 EXPECTATIONS OF THE JEWS. 

as the expectation of the totally careless 
and worldly, who care for none of these 
things ; nor of many poor neglected wan- 
derers, whose heads are full of old wives' 
fables. Christians would not choose that 
a Jew should take his ideas of what 
Christianity is, from the crude notions of 
the ignorant and profligate ; and yet I 
fear many of them take their ideas of 
what Judaism is, from no higher source. 
I do not think it necessary to mention 
some superstitions that are still to be met 
with among my brethren ; because these 
are not only rejected by the more enlight- 
ened, but are now beginning to be con- 
sidered as nursery tales, by many in that 
rank of life which formerly cherished 
them. 

But besides the opinions above stated, 
which are common to all, there are many 
whose views are still more extensive and 
enlightened, chiefly through the study of 
the Zohar, and other Cabalistic writings. 
The Zohar is principally composed of 



CONCERNING THE MESSIAH. 121 

the discourses of a singularly holy man, 
named Rabbi Shimeon Ben Jechoai, who 
is supposed to have lived about a hun- 
dred years before the Christian era. This 
book distinctly asserts the pre-existence 
of the Messiah.; stating that He is the 
wisdom, by whom all things in the be- 
ginning were created. There are in it, 
amid much darkness and confusion, many 
glimmerings of the true light ; especially 
concerning the restoration of fallen man, 
through the medium of a being, who is 
sometimes, though not always, distinctly 
stated to be the Messiah. There is a 
striking similarity between the mode in 
which St. Paul speaks of the old and 
new Adam, and that of the Cabalists in 
their frequent allusions to " the Adam 
above, and the Adam beneath." The 
Zohar, in commenting on that verse," 
" Whoso sheddeth man's blood, by man 
his blood shall be shed ;" states it to 
mean the Adam above, in whose image 
we are created; and that when we touch 
9 



122 EXPECTATIONS OF THE JEWS 

a man upon earth, the man above feels 
the wound; he being the representative 
of the human race. This idea is chiefly 
founded on the vision of Ezekiel; and 
the generality of the Hebrew writers say, 
that the vision of Isaiah, in the sixth 
chapter of the prophecy, is the same 
that Ezekiel saw. The reason they as- 
sign for the different manner in which 
these two prophets give an account of 
what they saw, is not unworthy of notice. 
They say, that this was the commence- 
ment of EzekieFs intercourse with God 
as a prophet or seer; he, therefore, de- 
scribes every thing with the minuteness 
of detail which might be expected, from 
the strong impression made on the mind 
by the first view of such a glorious sight ! 
whereas, Isaiah, who had previously en- 
joyed such intercourse with God, does 
not speak of " the likeness of a throne," 
and "the appearance of a man," but says 
at once, " I saw Adonai sitting upon a 
throne." Many of my readers are pro- 



CONCERNING THE MESSIAH. 123 

bably aware, that this name Adonai is 
never applied to the invisible Jehovah, 
but always to some manifest being. When 
God appeared to Abraham in the form of 
a man, it was by this name that Abraham 
addressed Him ; and by the same did 
Moses plead with Him when His glory 
passed before Him: " Let now Adonai 
go among us, for we are a stiff-necked 
people; and pardon our iniquity, and 
take us for thine inheritance." This 
shows that Moses was instructed in the 
mystery, that life and glory are to come 
to the human race, through the manifes- 
tation of God in man, in the person of 
Messiah ; and through the diligent study 
of such passages, and the comparing of 
Scripture with Scripture, the Cabalists, as 
I have already said, have many glimmer- 
ing rays of the same truth. The study of 
these writings has, of late years, greatly in- 
creased among the Jews, as well as of 
other devout and spiritual works, treat- 
ing chiefly on prayer, and on the inter- 
course between God and the soul of man. 






124 EXTRACTS FROM JEWISH BOOKS. 

Several of my Christian friends having 
expressed a desire to see some extracts 
from the writings of the pious Jews, I 
shall here insert a few from a compara- 
tively modern work, which, though High- 
ly esteemed by them, is very little known 
to Christian students of Hebrew litera- 
ture. It is entitled, "Chobath Leva- 
vouth;" that is, "The Duties of the 
Heart." I shall first extract a part of the 
preface to the work. 

" Man is composed of two parts, a soul 
and a body ; and both proceed from the 
goodness of God to him. The one part 
is visible, and the other invisible; and 
therefore man has to serve God both in 
secret, and openly. The open and visi- 
ble service is that duty which consists in 
external acts; such as, the utterance of 
prayer, fasting, and giving alms; study- 
ing the Word of God, instructing others, 
and keeping all the precepts. But the 
secret service is the duty of the heart; 
this is, to have the heart united to God ; 



CHOBATH LEVAVOUTH. 125 

to believe in Him, and in His instruc- 
tions; to fear and be humbled before His 
holy presence; to love Him, and give 
our souls unto Him ; to separate our- 
selves from what He hates, and to desire 
to do all things with a single eye to His 
glory; to have His goodness and mercy 
always before us, and to meditate upon 
Him continually. For no bodily service 
can be acceptable to Him, unless our 
souls are given over to Him ; so that every 
outward act is to proceed from the inner- 
most feelings of our hearts. And a man 
is not to think, that when sickness or any 
other cause deprives him of the capacity 
of performing the external service of God, 
he has nothing to do; no, surely ; for he 
is to remember, that God is ever present; 
and he ought then to begin to examine 
his heart before Him, to have all hatred 
and envy cast out of it, and to make it 
cease to lust after the things of this world. 
So, then, we have no excuse for neglect- 
ing to serve our God ; no place, nor time, 






126 EXTRACTS FROM 

nor external circumstances, ought to in- 
terfere with the soul's communion with 
Him. This is to be compared to a mas- 
ter who has commanded a certain em- 
ployment to his servant, consisting partly 
of in-door, and partly of out-door work ; 
what would the master think of that ser- 
Tant, if he were to neglect the in-door 
work, because he was deprived of the 
ability of doing that which was without? 
The servant who loves his master will 

strive in every way to do his pleasure." 

-* * * * 

" We must not trust in the traditions of 
our fathers for our salvation, but we are 
to examine for ourselves, and seek to be 
united to our God. There are various 
classes of persons who think they know 
God, and yet are quite strangers to Him. 
1st. There are those who have been 
taught to acknowledge God in words ; if 
riches are conferred on them, to say it is 
from above ; but a person may get into 
a habit of saying those things, without 



CHOBATH LEVAVOUTH. 127 

knowing or feeling within his heart that 
God is the giver of every good gift. 2d. 
There are those who judge of God by 
external things, and would compare Him 
to a creature, instead of being drawn out 
of the state of going by sight. 3d. There 
are those who make communion with 
God a matter merely of philosophical in- 
quiry, and vain speculation ; and talk so 
much about it, that they forget to seek to 
realize it. But he who is truly united to 
God, with his heart, his understanding, 
and his tongue, knows Him really; and 
enters into the spirit of the words of the 
Lord by Moses : — ' Know, therefore, this 
day, and consider it in thine heart, that 
the Lord he is God in the heaven above, 
and upon the earth beneath ; there is none 
else.' " Dent. iv. 39. * * * 

In laying before his readers the various 
duties of the heart, he lays down, among 
others, the following rules for self-exam- 
ination, or, as he calls it, trying ourselves ; 
by presenting several classes of persons, 



128 EXTRACTS FROM 

to whose character we are to examine if 
ours bears any resemblance. 

" There is one class of individuals who 
look upon every thing given to them by 
God, as if it were their due ; and they 
never think with sincerity of heart upon 
the Giver, but set their affections upon 
the gift. Their lust and pride are never 
satisfied; for the more they have, the 
more they require; and when God has 
been pleased to impart to others some- 
thing that they have not, they feel as if 
He had robbed them of it ; and thus, 
* the wicked in the pride of his heart for- 
getteth God ;' and thinks of him only as 
a hard master." 

" Another class profess to acknowledge 
God as the Giver of all things ; but they 
do not seriously lay this to heart ; they 
think that all things must necessarily be 
as they are ; that their situation and cir- 
€umstances will never change ; and in 
time they come to forget God, like Eph- 
raim. Hosea xi. 



CHOEATH LEVAVOUTH. 129 

11 There are also some, who, when the 
Lord is pleased to deprive them of health, 
or riches, or any other blessing, murmur 
against Him, and forget that He is their 
Creator, and that both they, and all they 
possess, are His. Such persons are not 
able to understand the words of David, 
when he savs : ' Blessed is the man 
whom thou chastenest, O Lord, and 
teachest him out of thy law,' (Psalm xciv. 
12;) and are not able to see God's ten- 
der love in all things." * * 

The following are taken from a Disser- 
tation on Faith, or trusting in God: 

" The chief thing needful in the ser- 
vice of God, is trusting in Him for every 
thing. For the moment we cease to trust 
Him in a single instance, we show that 
we are trusting some one besides Him ; 
and thus are committing the two great 
evils of » forsaking the Fountain of living 
waters, and hewing out to ourselves 
broken cisterns that can hold no water.' 
4 Cursed is the man that trusteth in man, 






130 EXTRACTS FROM 

and maketh flesh his arm, and whose 
heart departeth from the Lord.' (Jer. 
xvii. 5.) But 'blessed is that man that 
maketh the Lord his trust.' (Psalm xl. 
4.) How much better is it to trust in 
God, than to have confidence in the best 
and most successful schemes this world 
can afford ! Suppose a person who is a 
very skilful artificer, whose art no one 
can imitate, and who enjoys every advan- 
tage for prosecuting it that can be afforded 
him ; yet he is subject to many dangers 
and inconveniences from which he cannot 
deliver himself. He has to fear sickness, 
which would at once interrupt his plans ; 
and after he has amassed riches, he has 
constant dread that they may be taken 
from him, or that he should be taken away 
from them by death. Or, what avails 
the wealth of the rich man, if the clouds 
do not pour down water to nourish the 
fruits of the earth ? But the man that trusts 
in the Lord is freed from all those fears ; 
his treasure is in heaven ; he knows the 



CHOBATH LEVAVOUTH. 131 

care of God over him ; he eats his bread 
in peace, for God maketh him to dwell 
in safety. In time of famine, he knows 
that God is able to make the ravens feed 
him, as they did Elijah ; for » the young 
lions may lack, and suffer hunger ; but 
thev that seek the Lord shall not want 
any good thing.' ' Psalm xxxiv. 10. 

" Now it is needful that we should be 
acquainted with the being in whom we 
trust; for when we know the tender- 
ness, the compassion, and the love, of a 
man, we find it sufficient ground for our 
placing dependance upon him : how much 
more ought we to place confidence in 
God, whose mercy, and pity, and love, 
are so far beyond every thing we can 
imagine ! God is our Creator, and as- 
suredly knows what is good for us. Let 
us consider what He has done for us from 
our infancy ; and that every thing we have 
received is from his free mercy and love ; 
we ought, therefore, to put our whole 
trust and confidence in Him ; for we can- 



132 EXTRACTS FROM 

not serve God and man, any more than 
a servant can please two masters." 

"And when we need any help from our 
neighbour, we must ask God to incline 
his heart to bestow it; and thus we are 
to receive every thing from God. For 
though we receive the corn through the 
instrumentality of the earth, yet we must 
acknowledge God to be the giver of it; 
for the earth could not bring forth unless 
He caused the rain to descend on it from 
above; so then, after we have received 
a favour from man, we must thank God 
for it, and show ourselves grateful to our 
friend as the instrument in the hand of 
God. And we are to ask favours only 
of a pious and devout person, though he 
may not be so wealthy as the ungodly; 
because God seldom makes the wicked 
the instruments for good, or the righteous 
the instruments for evil. And if any one 
asks any thing from us, we must pray to 
God to incline our hearts, and enable us to 
do it, and then we must do it heartily as 
unto the Lord." 



CHOBATH LEVAVOUTH. 133 

"And as touching our enemies, and 
those that seek our hurt, we must com- 
mit the whole unto God ; we must bear 
their reproaches, and not repay them with 
evil, but rather seek to do them all the 
good we can. For we must remember 
that without the permission of God they 
are not able to hurt us in any way ; and 
if we should be hurt by them, we must 
recollect that we have sinned more against 
the Lord, and therefore pray and ask for- 
giveness; and then we shall find that 
even our enemies become our friends; 
for so it is written : i When a man's 
ways please the Lord, he maketh even 
his enemies to be at peace with him.' ' 
(Prov. xvi. 7.) 

The following is from his discourse on 
humility : 

44 Humility means that we should hum- 
ble our souls, and prostrate them before 
God, and think very meanly of ourselves. 
And we shall find that when our souls 
are truly humbled, it will be strikingly 



134 EXTRACTS FROM 

marked in our outward manner: we shall 
speak with softness, and lowliness, never 
with rage; and whether we be engaged 
in business, or in any other employment, 
the features of humility will be stamped 
on the whole of our deportment. When- 
ever we find men praising us, we ought 
to examine ourselves before God, and 
remember how much we have offended 
against him, in order that we may be 
humbled. And we ought to be satisfied 
with every thing the Lord is pleased to 
bestow upon us ; for when we are truly 
humbled, we shall feel that every thing 
we receive is more than we deserve. 
And we ought to pray daily with sinceri- 
ty in these words : ' My God ! keep my 
tongue from evil, and my lips from speak- 
ing guile ; enable my soul to be silent 
even from those who curse me ; and may 
my soul be bowed down to the dust be- 
fore all. Oh ! open my heart to take in 
thy law ; and may the whole of my be- 
ing pursue thy precepts.'" 



CHOBATH LEVAVOUTH. 135 

A discourse, suggesting sundry topics 
for meditation, he denominates " A Reck- 
oning with the Soul." I shall give some 
passages of it: 

41 First of all it is needful for ns to 
meditate upon the mercies of God, con- 
cerning our creation, that we were no- 
thing before we came into this world ; 
and after God, through his mercy, brought 
us alive into it, we were utterly weak 
and helpless. And since, through His 
love and pity, He has brought us to years 
of discretion, what have we done to Him 
for all his mercies? Where is our love, 
and where our gratitude to Him? Truly 
does Moses speak of us when he says : 
* Do ye thus requite the Lord, O foolish 
people and unwise ?' " (Deut. xxxii. 6.) 

" Secondly: We ought to consider that 
we shall have to give an account, for 
having neglected to improve what God 
has imparted to us in His Holy Word, 
wherein He has graciously made provi- 
sion for us, both for this world, and the 






136 EXTRACTS FROM 

world to come. We ought to meditate 
on the Scriptures day and night ; and in 
doing so we shall find that • the law of 
the Lord is perfect, converting the soul.' " 
(Psalm xix. 7.) 

44 Whenever we find ourselves tempted 
to forsake the commands of God, and 
not to do His will, we should look round 
on the whole creation, and see how every 
little thing in the whole creation does the 
will of God in fulfilling the end for which 
it was made ; and be ashamed that we, 
the kings of the creation, are neglecting 

the service for which we were created." 

# * * •# 

" As touching prayer, we ought always 
to meditate before we begin to pray, and 
look well into the state of our hearts ; for 
prayer, without the spirit, is like a body 
without a soul ; and just as the body and 
soul are one, so ought prayer to be the 
expression of the innermost feelings of 
the heart. For when we pray, and the 
whole of our heart is not engaged in it, 



CHOBATH LEVAVOUTH. 137 

we mock God ; and against us there are 
the words of the prophet Isaiah : ' This 
people draw near me with their mouth, 
anti with their lips do honour me, but 
have removed their heart far from me.' 
(Isa. xxix. 13.) Our pious men of old 
have arranged prayers for us, suited to 
every condition ; but the words are no- 
thing without the spirit ; and it is not on 
the words of our service that we must 
depend for prayer, but on the spirit." 

" But above all, we must remember 
that God beholds all things ; He looks 
into the secrets of our hearts ; every thing 
lies open before Him who searcheth the 
heart, and trieth the reins. His eyes are 
going to and fro throughout the whole 
earth ; and if we are ashamed that men 
should behold our deeds, how much more 
ought we to be ashamed before Him who 
is the great God, and King of the whole 
earth!" * * * 

" When our minds are enlightened, and 
we are truly believing in the promises of 
10 



13S CHOBATH LEVAVOUTH. 

God, we shall surely find that He will 
give unto us rest and peace ; we shall 
be enabled experimentally to understand 
the spirit of the twenty-third Psalm, and 
we shall behold our Creator in all things. 
Our minds will be illuminated ; we shall 
enter in through the gates of knowledge, 
and learn the secrets of God's wisdom. 
He will not let us go in our own strength, 
but will assist us in all things, and teach 
us the way wherein he would have us to 
walk. We shall then be able to see 
without our natural eyes, to hear without 
our natural ears, and understand without 
our natural understandings. Our will 
shall then be joined on to the will of God, 
our love to His love; we shall desire 
what He desires, and contemn what He 
despises. i Blessed is the man that hear- 
eth me, watching daily at my gates, wait- 
ing at the posts of my doors: for whoso 
findeth me, findeth life, and shall obtain 
favour of the Lord.'" (Prov. viii. 34, 
35.) 






EXTRACTS FROM THE TALMUD. 139 

The following anecdotes from the Tal- 
mud are interesting, on account of the 
resemblance they bear to some passages 
in the New Testament. 

" Rabbi Hillel, who was one of the 
princes of the Jews in Babylon, was re- 
markable for his meekness and patience, 
A person one day laid a wager with an- 
other, that no one could irritate Rabbi 
Hillel's temper. An impertinent fellow 
undertook to make the experiment, and 
accordingly went to him one Friday af- 
ternoon, as he was busily preparing for 
the Sabbath, and asked him a number of 
frivolous questions, all of which the Rab- 
bi answered with the greatest meekness 
and love. The man went away disap- 
pointed; but another fellow resolved to 
try his skill. He therefore went imme- 
diately to the Rabbi, and said, ' Can you 
teach me the whole law during the time 
I am able to stand on one foot!' « Yes,* 
answered the Rabbi, mildly, ' The whole 
law is contained in this one rule : What- 



140 ANECDOTES FROM 

ever you would not wish your neighbour 
to do to you, do it not to him. This is 
the law ; the rest is only an exposition 
of it.'" 

The following parable has some re- 
semblance both to that of the marriage 
supper, and the tea virgins : " Rabbi 
Eliezer told his disciples, that as no man 
knows the day of his death, we ought at 
all times to be prepared for it; and illus- 
trated the matter by a parable : A certain 
king told his servants that he purposed to 
make a feast for them* Those that were 
wise among them made themselves ready, 
and sat down before the door of the pa- 
lace, waiting for the invitation; but the 
foolish servants did not prepare them- 
selves, but went away every one to his 
labour, thinking it would be some time 
before the king would perform his pro- 
mise. Then suddenly the king called 
his servants to the feast ; the wise enter- 
ed into the palace, and the king rejoiced 
with them ; but he was exceedingly wroth 



THE TALMUD. 141 

with the foolish servants. He said to the 
wise, ' Sit down and feast with me ; but 
the foolish who are not prepared, must 
stand afar off, and hunger and thirst.' 
For thus saith the Lord by the prophet 
Isaiah : ' Behold my servants shall eat, 
but ye shall be hungry ; behold my ser- 
vants shall drink, but ye shall be thirsty; 
behold my servants shall rejoice, but ye 
shall be ashamed; behold my servants 
shall sing for joy of heart, but ye shall 
cry for sorrow of heart, and shall howl 
for vexation of spirit.' " (Isaiah lxv. 13, 

The following anecdote illustrates the 
doctrine of our knowing we have the pe- 
titions we ask of God, before we receive 
them. Rabbi Chanina Ben Dousa was 
one day asked to pray for the recovery of 
Rabbi Gamaliel's son. After having re- 
tired for some time, engaged in prayer, 
he told the messengers they might return, 
for that the fever had left the sick person, 
and he would recover. They marked down 



Il2 



RABBI NEHEMIAH. 



the hour, and found on their return that 
it was as he had said. When asked how- 
he knew this, he said, M That he was no 
prophet ; but his grandfather had instruct- 
ed him, that if he in prayer feels God 
sympathizing with him, and assisting 
him to pray, he may know his request 
will be granted." 

There is another interesting anecdote 
told of the same Rabbi. He was inform- 
ed that a piosonous serpent had hit several 
persons very dangerously ; he asked them 
to point out to him the place where the 
serpent was ; when they came to it, he 
placed Iiis heel on the hole, and the ser- 
pent bit him, but it died immediately, 
and the Rabbi was unhurt by the bite. 
He took the dead serpent, and placing it 
before his disciples, said : •• It is not the 
serpent that can kill ; it is sin that kills." 

The following sayings of Rabbi Nehe- 
miah, respecting the state of the world 
previous to the coming of the Messiah, 
will not be uninteresting to those of my 



RABBI NEHEMIAH. 143 

Christian readers who are watching the 
signs of the times, and expecting His 
glorious appearing : " In the generation 
before the Messiah, the son of David, 
will come, these will be the signs ; the 
youth will have no reverence for the 
aged ; the ancient will be obliged to stand 
up before the young; the daughter will 
rise against her mother, the daughter-in- 
law against her mother-in-law ; the son 
shall not be ashamed in the presence of 
his father ; and the faces of that genera- 
tion will express the impertinence of 
dogs." 

In another place he says : "In the 
generation of the son of David, insubor- 
dination will increase ; the worthy shall 
be oppressed. Although the vine yield 
her fruit, yet shall there be no substance 
in the grapes, as a mark of the curse. 
All the nations will disbelieve their own 
religions,* and many of the Jews will 

* This is what the Jews all understand the 
Rabbi to mean ; it is literally " All the nations 



144 KIMCHI, YARCHI, ETC. 

give up the faith and expectation of the 
coming of the Son of David." 

But my limits preclude me from ma- 
king any more extracts from those wri- 
tings, which hitherto have been rarely 
quoted, except with the view of pointing 
out absurdities. Surely this mode of 
treating them is as needless as it is unfair. 
Does Christianity need to fear Judaism 
as a rival, that her advocates are so anxi- 
ous to point out every blemish in the 
writings of men who lived in an age when 
the mass of those around them were in 
darkness and ignorance far beyond theirs? 
What was the state of Europe in the days 
of Maimonides, Kimchi, Solomon Yarchi, 
and Aben Ezra ? Was it not that of the 
grossest superstition ; and, with the ex- 
ception of the few learned men, whose 
names have rescued what are currently 
denominated the dark ages, from utter 

will become Sadducees" which is the word 
used by the Jews to denote an infidel, either 
among themselves or others. 



JEWISH COMMENTATORS. 145 

oblivion, was it not a state of ignorance 
and barbarism ? What did those Jews 
know of Christianity but persecution and 
bloodshed? The New Testament was 
not to be met with beyond the walls of 
the cloister ; and hidden there, along with 
it, was the secret fire of true piety, which 
a gracious God mercifully kept alive, lest 
Christendom should sink in the blackness 
of darkness for ever. In such an age, 
did these men apply themselves to the 
study and the explanation of their own 
portion of the revealed will of God ; and 
I will venture to say, that they had not 
the. remotest suspicion that the world 
contained any other. If that city set on a 
hill, in order that she might be " the 
light of the world," had become " the 
mother of harlots and abominations of the 
earth," it was not from her lips they 
would listen to an account of a new reve- 
lation ; and all they saw of what pro- 
fessed to be Christianity, well entitled 
them to believe that it was " a setting 



146 JEWISH COMMENTATORS. 

forth of strange gods." If the circum- 
stances in which they lived are taken 
into consideration, they will sufficiently 
account for the total silence of the Jew- 
ish commentators respecting Christianity, 
which has been matter of surprise to 
some persons. They dared not speak of 
the corruptions of that which went under 
this name ; because this would have ex- 
posed them to the rage of those in whose 
power they were ; and of Christianity 
itself they knew absolutely nothing; not 
even the narrative of the life and death of 
Jesus of Nazareth. And to this day, 
there are in Poland and Russia alone, 
many hundreds of thousands of Jews 
who are equally ignorant ; nay, more, I 
believe I state only the truth, in express- 
ing my conviction, that there are very 
few Jews in any part of the world who 
are better informed. The number of 
those who have even seen a New Testa- 
ment, form a mere fraction of the whole 
mass, and those who have perused it are 



JEWISH COMMENTATORS. 147 

fewer still. My motive for bringing 
these things before my Christian friends, 
is, that I believe ignorance or forgetful^ 
ness of them, has often led to the adop- 
tion of a very injudicious mode of pre- 
senting Christian truth to my brethren. 
Unjust attacks of the Rabbins, often dis- 
playing an almost total ignorance of what 
is so rashly condemned, is far from being 
a judicious preliminary; and is certainly 
not the best mode of obtaining a candid 
hearing, for the important truths which 
are sought to be imparted. He who is 
unacquainted with the weapons he uses, 
is in danger of having their edge turned 
against himself. 

I am far from denying, that there are 
many things in the voluminous works of 
the Hebrew commentators, that must pro- 
voke a smile ; but, as I have already said, 
allowance must be made for the age in 
which they lived, when the literary taste 
was certainly very different from what it 
is now. They were fond of enigmas, 



148 JEWISH COMMENTATORS. 

parables, and curious questions, many of 
which certainly appear very absurd in the 
present day. Some passages, which to 
us appear absolute nonsense, and which 
seem utterly inconsistent with the piety 
and wisdom elsewhere displayed by the 
same authors, are supposed by modern 
Jews to have been mystical, or perhaps 
jocular, allusions to local and temporary 
circumstances, well understood at the 
time they were written. Were the re- 
cords of English history confined to the 
great outlines, what should we think now 
of the works of an author, who wrote dur- 
ing, the time of the feuds between the 
houses of York and Lancaster, if he 
gravely mentioned a battle between a 
white and red rose, which disturbed the 
peace of a whole kingdom ? It would be 
as unfair to judge of the excellence of the 
whole works of the Jewish writers, by 
such detached scraps, as it would be to 
contemn the early Christian Fathers and 
reject what is excellent in their works, 



ERRORS OF CHRISTIANS. 149 

because of their testimony in favour of 
relics, or any other of those superstitions 
which the Papists diligently collect from 
their writings. 

I have often felt hurt, at the way in 
which really pious persons have received 
information of the lives and writings of 
holy and spiritual Jews. Some have- 
seemed to think such things hardly credi- 
ble; while others have hinted that it is 
dangerous to speak of them, lest persons 
should imagine that Christianity is un- 
necessary ; or rather, that Christ is not 
needed as the way of salvation. My 
dear Christian friends, I beseech you to 
consider that this is not exalting Christ; 
it is only degrading Christianity, by hold- 
ing it up as a mere system of doctrines. 
Did Christ come to establish a religion 
altogether different from, and opposed to, 
that which God himself established at the 
beginning; or did He come to perfect 
that which had been formerly commenc- 
ed 1 Was Judaism an ancient and foolish 



150 ERRORS OF CHRISTIANS. 

superstition He came to overturn ; or was 
it a schoolmaster to lead men to Himself? 
If you admit that it was established by- 
God, and that it was available for salva- 
tion, before Christ appeared, why deny 
that it may still be so to those who have 
never heard of any other way, and who 
seek God with a sincere and honest 
heart ? I do not speak of those who wil- 
fully refuse an offered Saviour — who, 
hating the light, because their deeds are 
evil, reject it, and will not come unto it, 
— but of those who cannot believe in Him 
of whom they have never heard ; of those 
who are as ignorant of Jesus, as the hum- 
blest peasant in this country is of Ma- 
homet. I do not wish to enter into the 
details of this question ; it is one that has 
been forced upon, not sought by me. I 
seek not to inquire whether there be 
many or few that shall be saved in this 
way, any more than I seek to enter into 
the kindred question of the salvability of 
some of the heathen, who have not heard 



SUPERIORITY OF CHRISTIANITY. 151 

either of a God or Saviour. I have only 
stated facts ; and I do not feel answerable 
for the consequences to be deduced from 
these facts ; I know that the God of Israel 
is a just God, hating iniquity ; but I know 
that He is not a hard master, reaping 
where He has not sown, and gathering 
where he has not strawed. 

But while I say these things, let it not 
for a moment be supposed that I am not 
sensible of the immense, the infinite dif- 
ference there is, between knowing Christ 
Jesus our Lord, and being ignorant of 
Him; between the view of pardon held 
out in the ordinances of the law, and the 
full assurance of the pardoning mercy of 
God, sealed in the blood of His dear Son. 
I know well that the " blood of bulls and 
of goats could not takeaway sin ;" neither 
could they " make him that did the ser- 
vice perfect as pertaining to the con- 
science ;" it is only when we see the dis- 
mission of sin, as a barrier between us 
and God, through the one offering of 



152 SUPERIORITY OF CHRISTIANITY. 

Christ, that we can have our hearts 
44 sprinkled from an evil conscience," that 
all doubts of God's forgiving love are taken 
away, and that we have thus " boldness 
to enter into the holiest of all, by the new 
and living way" which our Saviour hath 
opened up for us. It is through Him 
alone we receive the full assurance of 
44 peace on earth, and goodwill towards 
men ;" it is through Him alone ihat we 
see a reconciled God, beseeching sinful 
men to be reconciled to Him. 0, my 
dear Christian friends, do not think that 
I am still clinging to what is commonly 
termed Judaism ; or that I do not long 
earnestly that all my brethren may be- 
hold Jesus of Nazareth to be their Re- 
deemer. Do not suppose that' I am not 
acquainted with what a burdened con- 
science is, because of sin ; I can joyfully 
say, 44 Blessed be God who has opened 
my eyes to behold His great love in Christ 
Jesus." O it is glorious and blessed to 
have that perfect love which casteth out 



FEELINGS ABOUT DEATH. 153 

fear. I know that we cannot without 
Christ have that liberty of soul, whereby 
we can cry, " Abba, Father." I know 
that we may serve God as servants, under 
the law ; which is very much the state of 
those of my pious brethren to whom I 
have alluded ; indeed all their illustrations 
of the relationship between man and God, 
are those of a master and a servant ; but 
to be heirs of God and joint heirs with 
Christ, to be called the sons of God, we 
must behold God manifested in the flesh. 
One important difference between the 
feelings of the devout Jew, and the real 
Christian, consists in the manner in which 
they view that solemn event, the separa- 
tion of the soul from the body. The 
Jews have an indescribable horror of 
death ; and perhaps it is only one of them, 
who has been brought into Christ's mar- 
vellous light, that can fully understand 
how the work of Christ in the flesh " de- 
livers them who, through fear of death, 
were, all their lifetime, subject to bon- 
11 



154 WORK OF CHRIST. 

dage." There is a marked distinction 
in this respect also, between the Jews 
and the careless heathens around them, in 
those countries to which, be it remem- 
bered, my comparisons are confined. The 
mass of the Gentiles are there so utterly 
thoughtless of religion, living so com- 
pletely without God in the world, that 
the concerns of a future state seldom trou- 
ble them. Not so with the Jew ; even 
the least pious among them have suffi- 
cient awe of Jehovah to look forward 
with dread to the prospect of his reckon- 
ing with them for their sins. 

While I desire that the attention of my 
brethren according to the flesh, and, in- 
deed, of all mankind, should be directed 
to the true atonement, the true peace-ma- 
ker, I earnestly wish that the other impor- 
tant end of Christ's coming in the flesh, 
should be more frequently and distinctly 
pointed out to them. Nay, I ought not 
to say, another end ; this is the end, for 
which the putting away of sin by the 



WORK OF CHRIST. 155 

sacrifice of Himself was the appointed 
means. He did not so much come to tell 
us what holiness is, as to tell us how we 
may be holy. The law is holy, and just, 
and good, and revealed to us the holy 
will of God ; " but what the law could not 
do, in that it was weak through the flesh, 
God sending His own Son in the likeness 
of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned 
sin in the flesh; that the righteousness of 
the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk 
not after the flesh, but after the Spirit." 
(Romans viii. 3, 4.) Christ, in human 
flesh, through the power of the Eternal 
Spirit, conquered the world, the devil, 
and the flesh ; in order that all who put 
their trust in Him may be able to do the 
same. We should not regard the work 
which He performed on earth, as a mere 
personal holiness, setup for us to admire; 
but as a holiness to be infused into us, 
that we may " be holy, as God is holy." 
In losing the image of God, man has lost 
that which fits him for the great end of 



156 WORK OF CHRIST. 

his being, communion with God. Christ 
is able and willing to give unto as many 
as receive Him, power to become the 
sons of God ; He brings them back unto 
God, being the way to the Father. Union 
with God is that for which the soul was 
created ; that after which every soul has 
panted, that has been in any measure en- 
lightened from above. To this high dig- 
nity, Christ again exalts us, through the 
putting away of all that filthiness of the 
flesh which hindereth perfecting holiness 
in the fear of God. This is the high 
vocation wherewith we are now called ; 
any thing less than this is not complete 
Christianity. The language which the 
Church of Christ ought to have held to 
the unbelieving Jew, is not certainly, 
" Stand by, for I am holier than thou," 
but " See how I am able to conquer the 
sins which overcome you ; behold how I 
can do all things through Christ which 
strengtheneth me : come and put your 
trust in Him, and you also shall have 
power to be holy." 



JEWS AND GENTILES. 157 

From the simple facts I have stated, 
my Christian friends will see, that my 
brethren according to the flesh, are not 
in that state of heathen darkness in which 
they are so generally supposed to be. I 
do not wish to represent them in fairer 
colours than they deserve ; I know that, 
compared with the holy and spiritual law 
of God, we must conclude both Jews and 
Gentiles under sin ; I have chiefly been 
comparing their characters with that of 
their accusers, who, be it remembered, 
ought to have been their examples pro- 
voking them to jealousy, by a display of 
holiness and righteousness. The whole 
world presents at this moment a melan- 
choly spectacle of sin and misery ; but 
there is this important difference between 
Israel and Christendom, that while in the 
horizon of the former, we perceive the 
faint dawning of that morn which shall 
terminate in a glorious day, in that of the 
latter, we behold the sun declining, and 
the lowering clouds quickly gathering, 



158 JEWS AND GENTILES. 

that shall soon envelope the whole in the 
blackness of darkness. Do not say that 
I am presumptuously setting myself forth 
as a prophet of evil ; it is impossible for a 
Christian, who is not blinded by some 
pre-conceived notion, to avoid seeing the 
present evil state of things, which is pal- 
pable even to men of the world. Blessed 
be God, who hath provided in the Lord 
Jesus Christ an ark of safety. 

I now desire to address a few words to 
you, my Christian brethren from among 
the Gentiles, who, as such, were by na- 
ture " aliens from the commonwealth of 
Israel, and strangers from the covenants 
of promise;" but, having been made 
"nigh by the blood of Christ," are now, 
" no more strangers and foreigners, but 
fellow citizens with the saints, and of the 
household of God." Bear with me a little, 
while I remark on the usual manner in 
which this text is applied. I have almost 
always heard it spoken of by Christians, 
as if it had no reference whatever to 



UNITY OF GOD'S PURPOSE. 159 

Jews and Gentiles, but solely to convert- 
ed and unconverted men. Do not sup- 
pose I notice this subject, with the de- 
sign of exalting the Jew at the expense 
of the Gentile: this were indeed worse 
than idle. I do so, because I think the 
way in which I have usually heard it 
treated of by Gentiles, tends greatly to 
mar the truth of God, by obscuring the 
unity of His purpose ; which, from the 
fall of Adam to the restitution of all things, 
has been one and the same : that of re- 
storing fallen man to the lost image of 
God; of bringing back him and his habi- 
tation, into that condition of being "very 
good," in which both were originally 
created. With this important end in 
view, God " at sundry times and in divers 
manners spake in time past unto the fa- 
thers by the prophets;" and "hath in* 
these last days spoken unto us by his 
Son." To promote this great object have 
all His dispensations been arranged. Let 
us examine a little into what this " com- 



160 MANIFESTATION OF CHRIST 

monwealth of Israel" is, into which a 
portion of the Gentiles have been brought 
through faith. The high calling of Israel 
is, in Exodus, xix. 6, declared to consist 
in being " a kingdom of priests, and a 
holy nation." This was the purpose 
for which they were separated from all 
other people. When God made the pro- 
mises to our father Abraham, He showed 
him the captivity in Egypt, the bringing 
them out from thence, and their establish- 
ment in the land of Canaan, to cause all 
nations to know that there is a God in 
Israel. For this the word of the Lord, 
the Arm of the Lord, the Angel of His 
face or presence, pledged Himself to be 
the covenant with them. In the begin- 
ning of the fifteenth chapter of Genesis, 
we find the Word of the Lord coming to 
Abraham in a vision. This evidently must 
have been the Word manifest, else the 
term vision could not be applied. And it 
is very striking to find, that the similitudes 
which God uses for the sake of manifest- 



TO ABRAHAM, 161 

ing Himself, or instructing men, are not 
merely figurative terms, but are chosen 
for the sake of conveying to the minds of 
men the tenderness of the relations in 
which God stands to them. The instance 
before us shows clearly, that Christ, in 
the character of the Word, manifested 
Himself unto Abraham, for the sake of 
opening unto him the mind of the invisi- 
ble Jehovah, concerning the redemption 
which He himself, namely, the Word, 
has from eternity undertaken to effect 
What does the emblem of a word con- 
vey to our minds ? Is not the word of a 
wise man given forth for the very pur- 
pose of making known the wisdom that 
is in his invisible mind; and does it not 
thus become the medium of communica- 
tion between the invisible mind and the 
hearers? Just so, this name, the Word, 
is to convey to our minds, that the very 
purpose of His having come is for the 
sake of making known the invisible Fa- 
ther. Here then (in Gen. xv.) He is 



162 PROMISE OF THE LAND 

making known to Abraham the whole 
mystery of the redemption. For we 
find that after He promised unto Abra- 
ham that his seed should be as the stars 
of heaven in multitude; Abraham be- 
lieves, and it is counted unto him for 
righteousness. After this, Abraham asks 
again this question: " Whereby shall I 
know that I shall inherit it?" This 
cannot be the inquiry of unbelief in him 
whose faith has just been commended: 
it, therefore, shows he desired to enter 
into the mystery of the redemption. He 
did not doubt that God was able to make 
his seed as the stars of heaven; but his 
question referred to that which God de- 
clared at the seventh verse of this chap- 
ter, viz. : " I am Jehovah that brought 
thee out of Ur of the Chaldees, to give 
thee this very land* to inherit it." This 
caused Abraham to marvel how he could 

* There is an emphatic redundancy in the 
Hebrew expression of which the English phrase, 
" this very land," or, " this self-same land," con- 
veys the nearest idea. 



TO ABRAHAM AND HIS SEED. 163 

inherit the land, in his present fallen and 
corrupt state, and while it was still under 
the curse ; thinking that God meant him 
immediately to enter upon his inheritance. 
Then the answer of God was, showing 
unto him the sacrifices, which were typi- 
cal of the way in which the seed of the 
woman was to bruise the serpent's head. 
God told him that it was not now he 
should inherit it, for he should die in 
peace; but He proceeded to show him, 
by the furnace and flame of fire which 
passed between the pieces, the mystery 
of the resurrection, when all that is im- 
pure shall be purged away, and the 
earth and its inhabitants again be unto 
the Lord as an offering of a sweet-smel- 
ling savour. Now, my friends, does not 
this open up to us a mighty and joyful 
mystery? Does it not reveal what the 
the same Word saith by the prophet 
Isaiah, (chap, li.) when he shows us, 
that inasmuch as He has literally fulfilled 
the first part of the promise made to 



164 CREATION STATE. 

Abraham, namely, blessed and increased 
him, by giving him seed as the stars of 
heaven in number ; so He reminds those 
who follow after righteousness, those 
who seek the Lord, to look back unto 
Abraham, and through this they shall 
feel assured, that what is yet to be ful- 
filled will be as literally accomplished? 
That He will comfort Zion, and comfort 
all her waste places, and make her wil- 
derness like Eden, and her desert like 
the garden of Jehovah? What do we 
know about Eden, unless we look to the 
second chapter of Genesis ; where we 
find the first Adam placed as the king 
over the whole creation, full of the wis- 
dom of his Creator; in full communion 
and intercourse with the Fountain of life.; 
God resting and being refreshed, because 
He beheld every thing to be very good ? 
Heaven and earth thus were united ; 
Adam being the medium of communion, 
the channel through which the Invisible 
blessed and guided the visible. In other 



CREATION STATE. 165 

words, man was the heart of the creation, 
from whence, through his union with 
God, the streams of life and joy were 
flowing through every creature ; for all 
things, even the beasts of the field, were 
pronounced by the mouth of God to be 
very good. What is it, then, which 
caused the whole of this same creation 
to be altogether evil? What is it that 
took away from Adam the lordship and 
dominion ? The only answer is — sin. 
The lord of the creation, and every thing 
over which he was placed, fell with him. 
But God in his goodness provided a re- 
medy, before he pronounced the sentence 
of death. And what is the remedy? The 
seed of the woman. What is that seed 
to do? To bruise Satan's head, and 
through this to regain the paradisaical 
condition ; yea, and a higher ; for death 
is, through him, to be swallowed up for 
ever. And this is, at once, the work 
for which God pledged himself to Abra- 
ham; which he promised by the pro- 



166 REDEMPTION. 

phets, saying, through Isaiah, " I will 
give thee for a covenant* of the people, 
to establish the earth, to cause to inherit 
the desolate heritages," and which, in 
due time, Christ came to fulfil : take his 
own words, which expressly state the 
truth for which I am contending: " Abra- 
ham rejoiced to see my day, and he saw 
it, and was glad." To give, in few 
words, the substance of the repeated pro- 
mises made unto Abraham, Isaac and Ja- 
cob : the living God himself, by coming 
in contact with, or laying hold on, man, 
is to introduce life and immortality. For 
the Master Workman, alone, could bring 
into a perfect condition the workmanship 
of his own hands ; which shall be again 
pure, and holy, and good; for there is 
none good but God. And we find, that 
from the beginning he manifests that his 
desire is not to destroy the earth, but to 
renew it. Now, to return back to the 

* The word here would have been more for- 
cible if rendered by its primary meaning, " A 
purifier." 



RESTITUTION OF ALL THINGS. 167 

promises made to Abraham, concerning 
the nation called his seed, "of whom, as 
concerning the flesh, Christ came," God 
said, that they should possess the land of 
Canaan as an everlasting possession ; 
making, in Gen. xvii. 7 — 9, the same 
promise unto the seed as unto Abraham. 
Now has God made an unspiritual pro- 
mise to Abraham, because he connects 
the hope of Abraham, and his seed's fu- 
ture joy and glory, with this very earth; 
viz. the land of Canaan ? God forbid : 
but as he chose one nation, whom he 
called kings and priests, and made them 
the repository of the oracles, and has in 
all ages shown his manifest love towards 
them, so that at the time when they were 
brought low, even to the dust, He, the 
Word, took the human nature from them ; 
called the witnesses, the apostles, from 
them; all the transactions connected with 
the mighty work of redemption took 
place in the very land of Canaan; the 
Hebrew Church, which was the founda- 



168 RESTITUTION OF ALL THINGS. 

I 

tion of the whole Christian economy, was 
established there eleven years before there 
was any Gentile believer. What does all 
this teach us? That just as the garden 
of Eden was distinct from the whole 
creation, although the whole was in the 
condition of very good, so likewise he 
separated a nation and a land, from 
whence, on the re-appearing of our Lord, 
the Messiah, the living streams are to 
flow out on the right and on the left, 
and all nations shall flow unto it, saying, 
Let us go up to the house of the God of 
Jacob, to be taught of his ways; while 
those who, of the nations, are now called 
to be partakers of the commonwealth of Is- 
rael, are to know Him from the least even 
unto the greatest of them, for they shall 
see Him as He is. Observe, the apostle 
does not say unto the unbelieving Gen- 
tiles, " Ye are made partakers," but unto 
those whom God has chosen out from 
among them ; not as if the whole mass 
of the nations had been called to step into 



PROMISES— SPIRITUAL AND LITERAL. 169 

the place of God's ancient people, and 
thus form what is called the Gentile dis- 
pensation; but he shows to those who 
believe in Christ, and are sealed by the 
Holy Spirit, that they are no longer look- 
ed upon as strangers to stand without the 
court, but are one with the royal family. 
I must here make one general remark 
respecting the promises of God, namely, 
that they are all spiritual; nevertheless, 
they are quite real and literal. As at the 
first coming of our Lord, his birth, his 
riding upon an ass, his sufferings, his re- 
surrection, were all real events, literally, 
and not typically or figuratively fulfilled ; 
so He shall, in like manner, when He 
comes again, bring all things into a lite- 
rally pure and holy state. In the begin- 
ning, Satan gained a victory over Adam, 
and consequently every thing became 
evil ; in the end of time the Second Adam 
became the conqueror ; and this is what 
the apostle saith in the Hebrews; although 
we see not as yet all things put under 
12 



^ 



170 PROMISES SPIRITUAL AND LITERAL. 



him, we see Christ at the right hand of 
God, as the mighty conqueror, and through 
whom we are more than conquerors. And 
thus the whole creation groaneth and tra- 
vaileth in pain, waiting for the redemp- 
tion ; and not only so, but we, who have 
the first fruits of the Spirit, groan earnest- 
ly for the same blessed work to be con- 
summated. This is the " rest that re- 
maineth for the people of God," which 
Joshua gave them not, but which is spoken 
of in David as yet future ; in the faith of 
which our fathers died ; " not having 
received the promises, but having seen 
them afar off, and were persuaded of them, 
and embraced them." For I must once 
more positively assert, that when the chil- 
dren of Israel were brought out of Egypt, 
they did not think their happiness was to 
consist merely in being put in possession 
of a land flowing with milk and honey, 
nor that they were to be a distinguished 
people by their conquering and driving 
out the nations : for we find in Exodus 



SECOND COMING OF CHRIST. 171 

xxxiii, that although in the beginning of 
that chapter, God said that he would 
send an angel in order to drive out the 
nations, and to bring them into the land, 
this did not suffice them ; for they put 
off their ornaments and mourned, because 
God said that he would not go himself in 
the midst of them. So you see, my 
Christian brethren, that Israel saw that 
their glory consisted in the presence of 
the Lord ; and Moses, in pleading with 
God for Israel, expressly said, that his 
presence alone could distinguish them 
from the rest of the people that were upon 
the face of the earth. I would to God, 
that Christians would look more to the 
manifest presence of the Lord among 
them, as marking them out from the 
world, than to doctrines and outward 
forms. I frequently hear it asserted, that 
because Christianity is now established, 
there is no need to have the power and 
presence of Christ exhibited in his church, 
as it was in the days of the Apostles. 






172 SECOND COMING OP CRHIST. 

Alas ! alas ! is this Babel of opposing 
sects, such a glorious thing, that the ma- 
nifest presence of the Head of the Church 
may be dispensed with ? O remember 
the words of our blessed Lord when he 
prays for the Church : " That they all 
may be one, as thou Father art in me, 
and I in thee; that the world may believe 
that thou hast sent me." Let me remind 
you, dear Christian brethren, that we are 
to live as those who have here no con- 
tinuing city, but as those whose citizen- 
ship is in heaven ; and let us be looking 
out with a longing eye for the glorious 
^appearing of the great God our Saviour. 
Where shall he appear ? . in heaven ? 
There he is now : but he shall appear in 
the clouds, with the voice of the archan- 
gel, and with the trump of God, and 
these corrupt bodies shall put on incor- 
ruption. This is my soul's joy, that 
when my Lord shall appear, I shall be 
like him, and live with him for ever, as 
a perfect man — spirit, soul, and body. 



CHRISTIANS IN ENGLAND. 173 

Christ came to redeem the whole man ; 
for the soul without the body is not com- 
plete, neither the body without the soul ; 
and at present neither Christ's subjects, 
nor his kingdom, are complete ; nor will 
they be till his re-appearing. My friends, 
you all profess to believe that these our 
corrupt bodies shall rise out of the dust 
in glory; why, then, marvel that the crea- 
tion, which fell in consequence of the 
fall of man, shall rise also, and become 
glorious in consequence of his life and 
resurrection ? 

Before taking leave of my dear Chris- 
tian friends, I should wish them distinctly 
to understand, that though I have repre- 
sented it as unreasonable to expect my 
unbelieving brethren to distinguish be- 
tween nominal and real Christianity, es- 
pecially in cases where the latter has been 
rarely exhibited to them, I have myself 
enjoyed many happy opportunities of 
learning the difference. I do not wish to 
flatter either Jew or Gentile; but it is a 



174 CHRISTIANS IN ENGLAND. 

truth which cannot be denied, that there 
is in this highly-favoured country, an 
exhibition of Christian principle that is 
looked for in vain elsewhere. I speak 
not of the mass of its inhabitants; I fear 
that they are abusing their mercies, and, 
like other nations who have not enjoyed 
half their advantages, are fast ripening for 
the judgments of God; but I believe there 
is still a holy seed in this land, who are 
reserved to execute some high and im- 
portant purpose of God. But while Chris- 
tianity is seen to more advantage in this 
country, or, to speak more correctly, 
while there is some real Christianity to be 
met with here, and very little elsewhere, 
it is with deep regret I mention, that there 
is more laxity in piety and morals among 
the Jews in England, than in any other 
part of the world. Let not my dear 
brethren in this quarter be offended with 
me, when I state what many of them 
must be aware is a fact generally recog- 
nized on the continent ; where parents, 



JEWS IN ENGLAND. 175 

who are at all pious, have the greatest 
reluctance to permit any of their family 
to go to England, from a fear that they 
will lose whatever sense of godliness they 
may have hitherto possessed. The Jews 
here are almost destitute of any of the 
advantages I have mentioned, as so com- 
monly enjoyed by those in other coun- 
tries. The same number of Jews as are 
resident in London (where I may safely 
assert four-fifths of the Jews in Britain 
are congregated,) would, in any town on 
the Continent, have many pious teachers 
among them ; and would possess advan- 
tages of education that are unknown here. 
The Hebrew language is very little cul- 
tivated by them ; and hence arises a great 
ignorance of Scripture, and consequently 
of all spiritual things. I say not these 
things to cast a stigma on any one ; but 
I entreat my dear brethren, in England, 
to examine whether these things be not 
so, and to lay it to heart. My brethren, 
glorious days are yet awaiting our nation ; 



176 ADDRESS TO JEWS. 

but remember, Zion is to be redeemed 
with judgment, and her returning ones 
with righteousness ; and the rebels are to 
be purged out of her. Set not your af- 
fections on the mammon of this vain and 
perishing world ; study the Scriptures, 
and see what God has therein promised 
to them that seek Him. Look not for 
your deliverance to any civil privileges 
the nations may be disposed to grant 
you; receive such things as gracious 
gifts of that Heavenly Father who hath 
ever watched over us, as an eagle flutter- 
eth over her young, — who, because He 
changeth not, hath never suffered the 
sons of Jacob to be consumed, though 
burned on every side. But look not, I 
repeat, to any measure of man's devising 
for your deliverance ; God was always 
displeased with our fathers when they 
sought help from any but himself. " Be- 
hold, the Lord's hand is not shortened 
that it cannot save, neither his ear heavy 
that it cannot hear ; but your iniquities 



ADDRESS TO JEWS. 177 

have separated between you and your 
God, and your sins have hid his face 
from you that he will not hear." Let 
me entreat yon, my dear brethren every- 
where, into whose hands this little tract 
may fall, to be humbled before God for 
our sins as a nation — let us remember the 
prayer of our renowned king when he 
dedicated that temple, whose glorious 
antitype shall yet be manifested; "If 
they shall bethink themselves in the land 
whither they were carried captives, and 
repent, and make supplication unto thee 
in the land of them that carried them cap- 
tives, saying, We have sinned, and have 
done perversely ; we have committed 
wickedness ; and so return unto thee with 
all their hearts, and with all their soul, in 
the land of their enemies, — then hear 
thou their prayer and their supplication 
in heaven, thy dwelling-place, and main- 
tain their cause, and forgive thy people 
that have sinned against thee, and all 
their transgressions wherein they have 



178 ADDRESS TO JEWS. 

transgressed against thee." (1 Kings 
viii. 47 — 50.) And such prayers God 
has graciously promised to hear and 
answer: " If they shall confess their in- 
iquity, and the iniquity of their fathers, 
with their trespass which they have tres- 
passed against me, — if then their uncir- 
cumcised hearts be humbled, and they 
accept the punishment of their iniquity; 
then will I remember my covenant with 
Jacob, and also my covenant with Isaac, 
and also my covenant with Abraham, 
will I remember ; and I will remember 
the land." (Lev. xxvi, 40—42.) 



APPENDIX. 



EXTRACT FROM THE HISTORY OF THE JEWS, 
EDINBURGH, 1840. 

While pious Christians on the continent 
have shown themselves anxious to bring the 
Jews to the faith of the Gospel, Great 
Britain has not beens wanting" to the good 
work. A " Society for Promoting Chris- 
tianity among the Jews" was instituted at 
London in 1809. At first it had to contend 
with great difficulties; and w T as exposed to 
much of that obloquy, which, some time ago, 
w r as cast upon Bible, Missionary, and other 
religious societies. Among its deceased 
friends were the Rev. Legh Richmond, and 
the Rev. Charles Simeon of King's College, 



180 APPENDIX. 

Cambridge.* The latter eminent and excel- 
lent clergyman testified his interest in its 
welfare, by attending and speaking at all its 
annual meetings, except two, from 1813 to 

* One of the most distinguished living clergy- 
men of the English church, the Rev. Dr. Wil- 
liam Marsh of Birmingham, has, on many oc- 
casions, evinced his zeal for the conversion of 
the Jews. A few years ago, a Jew, who had 
embraced Christianity, and was greatly perse- 
cuted in consequence, sought and found a home 
in the house of this excellent man. Not long 
after, four of Dr. Marsh's children successively 
sickened and died. This was regarded by 
some persons as a judgment from God upon 
the doctor for his affording shelter to one who 
had long denied and blasphemed our Lord. But 
one and all of the children declared on their 
death-beds, that they had been brought to a 
saving interest in Christ by means of the con- 
verted Jew. Painful as the bereavement was, 
their pious father would, we doubt not, acknow- 
ledge the goodness of God in rewarding his 
kind treatment of a descendant of Abraham, 
by making that individual the instrument of 
spiritual blessings to those nearest and dearest 
to him. 



APPENDIX. 181 

1832. Increasing infirmities obliged him, 
about the latter period, to withdraw from 
encountering the fatigue of public meetings ; 
but such was his zeal for the cause of Israel, 
that he again appeared on the platform at 
Exeter Hall, in May 1835, and delivered a 
speech full of ardour and energy, although 
he was then in his seventy-sixth year.* 

* His interest in Israel's welfare did not ter- 
minate there. When, about a year and a half . 
afterwards, he was laid on his dying bed, he 
dictated the following address to the under 
graduates of Cambridge. So calm, collected, 
and vigorous was his mind, that he did not 
alter a single word in it when it was read over 
to him for correction : — " My dear young 
friends, — I have long wished to address you on 
this occasion; and since I had no hopes of doing 
it by word of mouth, I have wished to do it 
through the medium of Mr. Spence (one of Mr. 
Simeon's curates ;) but the weakness that has 
come upon me, incapacitates me from doing it 
as I would desire. You will, however, excuse 
my infirmities. 

"The thing which I wish to bring before 
you is this : — ought we, or ought we not, to 



182 APPENDIX. 

Not long after its establishment, the Com- 
mittee of the London Society resolved to 
procure a translation of the New Testament 

resemble Almighty God in the things most near 
and dear to God himself? It has been the one 
object of my life to do so, and it is my dying 
prayer for you, that you may do so also. JNow, 
I ask, what is at this very moment God's view 
of his ancient people, and his feeling towards 
them ? 4 1 have delivered the dearly beloved of 
my soul into the hands of her enemies.' (Jer. 
xii. 7.) 

44 Are such God's feelings towards them even 
now ? and ought not ours to resemble them ? 
Have we no cause for shame, and sorrow, and 
contrition, that we have resembled Him so lit- 
tle in past times? And has not every one of 
us cause for shame, and sorrow, and contrition, 
for his sad want of resemblance to God at this 
very hour ? — yea, for his very contrariety to 
God in this respect ? — Yes, have we not reason 
to blush and be confounded before God, when 
not even a desire for this resemblance has ex- 
isted in our minds ? 

44 Respecting them at this moment also, God 
says (Rom. xi. 28,) 4 They are beloved for the 
iathers' sakes; and have we no sense of shame 



APPENDIX. 183 

into the Hebrew tongue. In order to pro- 
mote this desirable object, Dr. Buchanan 

that there is no correspondence of mind be- 
tween God and us in that respect? 

" But God says concerning- them, « I do not 
this for your sakes, O house of Israel, but for 
mine Holy Name's sake, which ye have profaned 
among the heathen, whither ye went; and I will 
sanctify my great name which was profaned 
among the heathen, which ye have profaned in 
the midst of them ; and the heathen shall know 
that I am the Lord, saith the Lord God, when 
I shall be sanctified in you before their eyes. 
For I will take you from among the heathen, 
and gather you out of all countries, and will 
bring you into your own land.' (Ezek. xxvi. 
22-24.) 

" Now, I ask, let the Jews be ever so insig- 
nificant, that we do nothing for their sakes, 
ought not the glory of God's Holy Name to be 
as dear to us as it is to Him? Are there no cb- 
ligations lying upon us on this ground ? Have 
we no cause for shame, and sorrow, and con- 
trition, that these considerations have weighed 
so little in our minds ? Surely, if we felt as we 
ought, the glory of God as connected with this 
subject should be dear to us, dearer than life 



184 APPENDIX. 

presented to them a copy of the curious 
manuscript translation found in Malabar, 

itself. But who, in this view, does not stand 
self-condemned before God ? 

" But let us enter upon another part of the 
subject: — God's design and purpose towards 
them. (Jer. xxxii. 41.) 'Yea, I will rejoice 
over them to do them good, and I will plant 
them in this land assuredly with my whole 
heart and with my whole soul.' 

44 Now, I ask, is this God's state of mind to- 
wards them ? What, then, should have been 
ours? But, alas! what are our own? What 
have they been in times past? What are they 
at the present moment ? Tell me, are we not 
sadly unlike to God ? And should it not be a 
matter of daily humiliation that we are so? 
Yea, should we not all rise at this moment as 
one man, with self-indignation against our- 
selves, that we are so utterly unlike to God, 
and so little ardent to resemble him, and to ac- 
complish his will ? 

" Read what is said at Zeph. iii. 17-20. ■ The 
Lord thy God in the midst of thee is mighty; 
he will save, he will rejoice over thee with joy; 
he will rest in his love: he will joy over thee 
with singing. I will gather them that are sor- 
rowful for the solemn assembly, who are of thee, 



APPENDIX. 185 

which has received the name of the "Tra- 
vancore Testament." The version of the 

to whom the reproacli of it was a burden. Be- 
hold, at that time I will undo all that afflict 
thee; and I will save her that halteth, and her 
that was driven out; and I will get them praise 
and fame in every land where they have been 
put to shame. At that time will I bring you 
again, even in the time that I gather you; for 
I will make you a name and a praise among all 
people of the earth, when I turn back your cap- 
tivity before your eyes, saith the Lord.' 

" And, having read it, ask whether we should 
not rise to this mind ? Can we hope for God's 
blessing on our own souls, when we have so lit- 
tle regard for the souls of his most dear people, 
and so little resemblance in ourselves to him 
respecting them ? 

" I say no more ! May God speak to all of 
you with thunder and with love ; and may my 
dying hour be a source of life to God's interest 
among you all, both in this place and through- 
out the world." Well might Mr. Cartwright, 
as a minister of the Episcopal Jews' chapel, 
preach a funeral sermon for Mr. Simeon, and 
take as his text, Luke vii. 5, " He loveth our 
nation." 

13 



186 APPENDIX. 

New Testament has been executed, and ex- 
tensively circulated among the Jews; for 
whose benefit the Society has likewise pub- 
lished an edition of the Old Testament in 
Hebrew, which is eagerly sought after, and 
willingly purchased by the Jews on the con- 
tinent of Europe and the northern coast of 
Africa. As the Society is composed of Epis- 
copalians, it has caused the Liturgy of the 
English church to be translated into He- 
brew. This version is regularly used at 
the Episcopal Jews' chapel, Bethnal Green, 
London, of which the Rev. James B. Cart- 
wright is the minister. This gentleman is 
likewise secretary to the Society. Accord- 
ing to the report for 1839, the baptismal re- 
gister of this place of worship contains a list 
of two hundred and seventy-nine individuals 
of the Hebrew nation admitted into the visi- 
ble church by baptism, one hundred and 
ninety having been baptized in the chapel, 
and eighty-nine before it was opened for di- 



APPENDIX. 187 

vine service. Of the whole number, ninety- 
six were baptized as adults, and the rest as 
children. 

This excellent Society has twenty-three 
stations in Europe, Asia, and Africa, and 
maintains forty-nine missionaries and agents, 
of whom twenty-three are converts from 
Judaism. It has under its direction a He- 
brew college in the metropolis, over which 
the Rev. Dr. MeCaul presides. The object 
of this institution is to train up two classes 
of missionaries, — one composed of learned 
converts, well versed in rabbinical lore, who 
are to be thoroughly instructed in Chris- 
tianity; and the other of pious Christians 
wishing to become missionaries to the Jews, 
who are to be rendered familiar with Hebrew 
opinions and customs. From this excellent 
academy much benefit may be expected to 
arise. 

The London society supports seven schools 
in the duchy of Posen, a part of the Prus- 






188 APPENDIX, 

sian dominions, and an especially interest- 
ing district, from the number of Jews resi- 
dent there. We insert the following ac- 
count of the present state of these schools 
given by the Rev. Mr. McCheyne, who 
visited them last year: — "In company with 
Mr. Bollsen (one of the Society's missiona- 
ries,) we visited the Posen school. A few 
weeks ago, there were eighty children; 
now we found only twelve. This falling off, 
which I believe will be only for a short time, 
was produced by a happy cause, — the real 
conversion and baptism of two of the girls. 
We listened with delight to their simple 
history.* The master seemed a fine young 

* Mr. McCheyne gives the following interest- 
ing account of one of these girls, whose name 
was Bertha ; — " Her father was a very deter- 
mined Jew; but her teacher believed that she 
had known the truth for four years. Last sum- 
mer she left her father's house for G , a 

town a great many German miles off, where 
the teacher lives by whom she was brought to 



APPENDIX. 189 

man. He first played the violin, while 
the children sung sweetly same Christian 
hymns. They afterwards went over the 
history of the birth of Jesus. — We next visit- 
ed the school in Storchnest, a large Prus- 
sian village, about twelve hours' journey 
distant from Posen: thirty-eight children 
attend. We found them reading the history 

a knowledge of the Saviour. She went in order 
to seek baptism. She was very happy on the 
road, singing the hymns she had learned at 
school, to lighten the fatigue of the journey. 
Her father, suspecting whither she had gone, 
pursued, overtook, and brought her back. And 
now her home was the daily scene of her per- 
secution. She was not suffered to go to school, 
or to read her beloved Bible. Still she remain- 
ed firm in her desire to be a Christian. The 
president took her into his house. The father 
prosecuted. The Court for Minors decided that 
she need not return to her father's house unless 
she pleased. She was accordingly baptized on 
9th February 1839, by the name of Louisa. 
Her age was then sixteen years. She is now 
at Pinne, six miles from Posen, and works with 
her needle." 



190 APPENDIX. 

of Joseph in the German Bible. We heard 
them examined on the Bible history, on 
grammar, and on natural history ; and lastly, 
they sang three Christian hymns. It quite 
reminded me of a well-conducted parish 
school in our own happy land." 



THE END. 



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